^^-n^. 



-?> • 9 » •■ 



^^-n^.. 






-> 






V 



"^^^^ 



^^ 



.^^ 















owe 












'IK\. 






y 



^^•n^ 












o^^ 



<f^. * o « ' ,-c'*- 



- %,^ ;^^.^ \/ ;^^\ %/' .^>%^^^ ^ 






vV^. 






o 































o V 



V 



C " = » 









"^O 



.O"^ c " " " » ^C 






o. V 



^^ 






■^^„ .%*^ 



%' 



Q ^ 






/v^\a 



,0^ 












^^ u. 



■/ 



> 



-n^-o^ 



'>o^ 






> <^ 



o ' • • * \ ' 



\V' 



v^. 



iV. ""..^Z 



-^o 



<i>' 






**^^ 
•^ 



















C z^"^":" ,.., 










■y^ 



^•< 



^',. .V 



A^ // 



'4- 



.0- 









V^^' 

/X 



.-Jv 






'bv 






%^ 






\^f;'\QO 









.A.J 



ZUNI FOLK TALES 



RECORDED AND TRANSLATED BY 



FRANK HAMILTON GUSHING 



.*y^ 



With an Introduction by 



J. W. POWELL 




NEW YORK AND LONDON 
G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS 

(Tbe tinickcxbochct press 

1901 






THF l.l«HARY OF 
CONCfTESS, 

Two Cof^lEa hECEIVED 

JAN. !9 1902 

CopvKdOKT ENTRY 

CLAS%A/ XXa NO. 
OOPf B. 



Copyright, 1901 

BY 

EMILY T. M. GUSHING 



Ube ftnickeiboctter press, mew Ji^ork 



LIST OF TALES 



The Trial of Lovers : or the Maiden of MAtsaki and the 

Red Feather i 

The Youth and his Eagle 34 

The Poor Turkey Girl 54 

How THE Summer Birds came 65 

The Serpent of the Sea 93 

The Maiden of the Yellow Rocks 104 

The Foster-child of the Deer 132 

The Boy Hunter who never sacrificed to the Deer he 

had slain : or the origin of the Society of Rattlesnakes 150 
How AhaiyIJta and MAtsailema stole the Thunder-stone 

AND THE Lightning-shaft 175 

The Warrior Suitor of Moki 185 

How the Coyote joined the dance of the Burrowing-owls 203 
The Coyote who killed the Demon SfuiuKi : or why Coyotes 

run their noses into deadfalls 215 

How^ THE Coyotes tried to steal the Children of the 

Sacred Dance 229 

The Coyote and the Beetle 235 

How THE Coyote danced with the Blackbirds , . . 237 

How the Turtle out hunting duped the Coyote . . , 243 

The Coyote and the Locust 255 

The Coyote and the Ravens who raced their eyes . . 262 

The Prairie-dogs and their priest, the Burrowing-owl . 269 

How the Gopher raced with the runners of K'iXkime . 277 

How the Rattlesnakes came to be what they are , . 285 

How the Corn-pests were ensnared 288 

Jack-rabbit and Cottontail 296 

The Rabbit Huntress and her adventures .... 297 



iv List of Tales 

PAGE 

The Ugly Wild Boy who drove the Bear away from South- 
eastern Mesa 310 

The Revenge of the Two Brothers on the HAwikuhkwe, 

or the Two Little Ones and their Turkeys . . .317 
The Young Swift-runner who was stripped of his Cloth- 
ing BY THE Aged Tarantula 345 

Atahsaia, the Cannibal Demon 365 

The Hermit Mitsina 385 

How THE Twins of War and Chance, AhaiyiJta and MAtsai- 
lema, fared with the Unborn-made Men of the Under- 
world 398 

The Cock and the Mouse 4" 

The Giant Cloud-swallower 423 

The Maiden the Sun made love to, and her Boys : OR the 

origin of anger 429 



LIST OF PLATES 



Portrait of Frank Hamilton Gushing. Frontispiece 

The Youth and his Eagle 

ZuRi from the South .... 

Waihusiwa ...... 

A burro train in a Zu5fi street. 
Thunder Mountain from ZuNi . 

A HOPI (MoKl) MAIDEN 
A DANCE OF THE KaKA 

Across the terraces of ZuNi 
The pinnacles of Thunder Mountain 
Palovvahtiwa ..... 
ZuNi Women carrying water . 



34 

64 

92 

132 

174 
184 
228 
276 

344 
388 
42S 



INTRODUCTION 

IT is instructive to compare superstition with 
science. Mythology is the term used to desig- 
nate the superstitions of the ancients. Folk-lore is 
the term used to designate the superstitions of the 
ignorant of today. Ancient mythology has been 
carefully studied by modern thinkers for purposes 
of trope and simile in the embellishment of litera- 
ture, and especially of poetry ; then it has been 
investigated for the purpose of discovering its 
meaning in the hope that some occult significance 
might be found, on the theory that the wisdom of 
the ancients was far superior to that of modern 
men. Now, science has entered this field of study 
to compare one mythology with another, and pre- 
eminently to compare mythology with science 
itself, for the purpose of discovering stages of hu- 
man opinion. 

When the mythology of tribal men came to be 
studied, it was found that their philosophy was also 
a mythology in which the mysteries of the universe 
were explained in a collection of tales told by wise 
men, prophets, and priests. This lore of the wise 
among savage men is of the same origin and has 
the same significance as the lore of Hesiod and 
Homer. It is thus a mythology in the early sense 
of that term. But the mythology of tribal men is 
devoid of that glamour and witchery born of poetry ; 
hence it seems rude and savage in comparison, for 



viii Introduction 

example, with the mythology of the Odyssey, and 
to rank no higher as philosophic thought than the 
tales of the ignorant and superstitious which are 
called folk-lore ; and gradually such mythology has 
come to be called folk-lore. Folk-lore is a dis- 
credited mythology — a mythology once held as a 
philosophy. Nowadays the tales of savage men, 
not being credited by civilized and enlightened men 
with that wisdom which is held to belong to phi- 
losophy, are called folk-lore, or sometimes folk-tales. 

The folk-tales collected by Mr. Gushing constitute 
a charming- exhibit of the wisdom of the Zunis as 
they believe, though it may be but a charming ex- 
hibit of the follies of the Zunis as we believe. 

The wisdom of one age is the folly of the next, 
and the opinions of tribal men seem childish to 
civilized men. Then why should we seek to dis- 
cover their thoughts ? Science, in seeking to know 
the truth about the universe, does not expect to 
find it in mythology or folk-lore, does not even 
consider it as a paramount end that it should be 
used as an embellishment of literature, though it 
serves this purpose well. Modern science now 
considers it of profound importance to know the 
course of the evolution of the humanities ; that is, 
the evolution of pleasures, the evolution of indus- 
tries, the evolution of institutions, the evolution of 
languages, and, finally, the evolution of opinions. 
How opinions grow seems to be one of the most 
instructive chapters in the science of psychology. 
Psychologists do not go to the past to find valid 
opinions, but to find stages of development in 



Introduction ix 

opinions ; hence mythology or folk-lore is of pro- 
found interest and supreme importance. 

Under the scriptorial wand of Gushing the folk- 
tales of the Zuiiis are destined to become a part of 
the living literature of the world, for he is a poet 
althouo-h he does not write in verse. Cushine can 
think as myth-makers think, he can speak as proph- 
ets speak, he can expound as priests expound, 
and his tales have the verisimilitude of ancient 
lore ; but his sympathy with the mythology of tribal 
men does not veil the realities of science from his 
mind. 

The gods of Zuni, like those of all primitive 
people, are the ancients of animals, but we must 
understand and heartily appreciate their simple 
thought if we would do them justice. All entities 
are animals — men, brutes, plants, stars, lands, 
waters, and rocks — and all have souls. The souls 
are tenuous existences — mist entities, gaseous crea- 
tures inhabiting firmer bodies of matter. They 
are ghosts that own bodies. They can leave their 
bodies, or if they discover bodies that have been 
vacated they can take possession of them. Force 
and mind belong to souls ; fixed form, firm exist- 
ence belong to matter, while bodies and souls 
constitute the world. The world is a universe 
of animals. The stars are animals compelled to 
travel around the world by magic. The plants are 
animals under a spell of enchantment, so that usu- 
ally they cannot travel. The waters are animals 
sometimes under the spell of enchantment. Lakes 
writhe in waves, the sea travels in circles about the 



X Introduction 

earth, and the streams run over the lands. Moun- 
tains and hills tremble in pain, but cannot wander 
about ; but rocks and hills and mountains some- 
times travel about by night. 

These animals of the world come in a flood of 
generations, and the first-born are gods and are 
usually called the ancients, or the first ones ; the 
later-born generations are descendants of the gods, 
but alas, they are degenerate sons. 

The theatre of the world is the theatre of necro- 
mancy, and the gods are the primeval wonder- 
workers ; the gods still live, but their descendants 
often die. Death itself is the result of necromancy 
practiced by bad men or angry gods. 

In every Amerindian language there is a term 
to express this magical power. Among the Iro- 
quoian tribes it is called orenda ; among the Siouan 
tribe some manifestations of it are called wakan or 
wakanda, but the generic term in this language is 
hube. Amonor the Shoshonean tribes it is called 
pokunt. Let us borrow one of these terms and 
call it " orenda." All unexplained phenomena are 
attributed to orenda. Thus the venom of the ser- 
pent is orenda, and this orenda can pass from a 
serpent to an arrow by another exercise of orenda, 
and hence the arrow is charmed. The rattle-snake 
may be stretched beside the arrow, and an invoca- 
tion may be performed that will convey the orenda 
from the snake to the arrow, or the serpent may 
be made into a witch's stew and the arrow dipped 
into the brew. 

No man has contributed more to our under- 



Introduction xi 

standing of the doctrine of orenda as believed and 
practised by the Amerindian tribes than Gushing 
himself. In other publications he has elaborately 
discussed this doctrine, and in his lectures he was 
wont to show how forms and decorations of imple- 
ments and utensils have orenda for their motive. 

When one of the ancients — that is, one of the 
gods — of the Iroquois was planning the streams of 
earth by his orenda or magical power, he deter- 
mined to have them run up one side and down the 
other ; if he had done this men could float up or 
down at will, by passing from one side to the other 
of the river, but his wicked brother interfered and 
made them run down on both sides ; so orenda may 
thwart orenda. 

The bird that sings is universally held by tri- 
bal men to be exercising its orenda. And when 
human beings sing they also exercise orenda ; hence 
song is a universal accompaniment of Amerindian 
worship. All their worship is thus fundamentally 
terpsichorean, for it is supposed that they can be 
induced to grant favors by pleasing them. 

All diseases and ailments of mankind are at- 
tributed by tribal men to orenda, and all mythology 
is a theory of magic. Yet many of the tribes, per- 
haps all of them, teach in their tales of some method 
of introducing death and disease into the world, but 
it is a method by which supernatural agencies can 
cause sickness and death. 

The prophets, who are also priests, wonder- 
workers, and medicine-men, are called shamans in 
scientific literature. In popular literature and in 



xli Introduction 

frontier parlance they are usually called medicine- 
men. Shamans are usually initiated into the guild, 
and frequently there are elaborate tribal cere- 
monies for the purpose. Often individuals have 
revelations and set up to prophesy, to expel dis- 
eases, and to teach as priests. If they gain a fol- 
lowing they may ultimately exert much influence 
and be greatly revered, but if they fail they may 
gradually be looked upon as wizards or witches, 
and they may be accused of black art, and in ex- 
treme cases may be put to death. All Amerin- 
dians believe in shamancraft and witchcraft. 

The myths of cosmology are usually called crea- 
tion myths. Sometimes all myths which account 
for things, even the most trivial, are called creation 
myths. Every striking phenomenon observed by 
the Amerind has a myth designed to account for 
its origin. The horn of the buffalo, the tawny 
patch on the shoulders of the rabbit, the crest of 
the blue-jay, the tail of the magpie, the sheen of 
the chameleon, the rattle of the snake, — in fact, 
everything that challenges attention gives rise to a 
myth. Thus the folk-tales of the Amerinds seem 
to be inexhaustible, for in every language, and 
there are hundreds of them, a different set of myths 
is found. 

In all of these languages a strange similarity 
in cosmology is observed, in that it is a cosmology 
of regions or worlds. About the home world of 
the tribe there is gathered a group of worlds, one 
above, another below, and four more : one at every 
cardinal point ; or we may describe it as a central 



Introduction xiii 

world, an upper world, a lower world, a northern 
world, a southern world, an eastern world, and a 
western world. All of the animals of the tribes, be 
they human animals, tree animals, star animals, 
water animals (that is, bodies of water), or stone ani- 
mals (that is, mountains, hills, valleys, and rocks), 
have an appropriate habitation in the zenith world, 
the nadir world, or in one of the cardinal worlds, and 
their dwelling in the center world is accounted for 
by some myth of travel to this world. All bodies 
and all attributes of bodies have a home or proper 
place of habitation ; even the colors of the clouds 
and the rainbow and of all other objects on earth 
are assigned to the six regions from which they 
come to the midworld. 

We may better understand this habit of thought 
by considering the folk-lore of civilization. Here 
are but three regions : heaven, earth, and hell. 
All good things come from heaven ; and all bad 
things from hell. It is true that this cosmology is 
not entertained by scholarly people. An enlight- 
ened man thinks of moral good as a state of mind 
in the individual, an attribute of his soul, and a 
moral evil as the characteristic of an immoral man ; 
but still it is practically universal for even the most 
intelligent to affirm by a figure of speech that 
heaven is the place of good, and hell the place of 
evil. Now, enlarge this conception so as to assign 
a place as the proper region for all bodies and 
attributes, and you will understand the cosmo- 
logical concepts of the Amerinds. 

The primitive religion of every Amerindian 



xiv Introduction 

tribe is an organized system of inducing the 
ancients to take part in the affairs of men, and the 
worship of the gods is a system designed to please 
the gods, that they may be induced to act for men, 
particularly the tribe of men who are the wor- 
shipers. Time would fail me to tell of the multi- 
tude of activities in tribal life designed for this 
purpose, but a few of them may be mentioned. 
The first and most important of all are terpsichorean 
ceremonies and festivals. Singing and dancing 
are universal, and festivals are given at appointed 
times and places by every tribe. The long nights 
of winter are devoted largely to worship, and a 
succession of festival days are established, to be 
held at appropriate seasons for the worship of the 
gods. Thus there are festival days for invoking 
rain, there are festival days for thanksgiving — for 
harvest homes. In lands where the grasshopper is 
an important food there are grasshopper festivals. 
In lands where corn is an important food there are 
green-corn festivals ; where the buffalo constituted 
an important part of their aliment there were 
buffalo dances. So there is a bear dance or festi- 
val, and elk dance or festival, and a multitude of 
other festivals as we go from tribe to tribe, all of 
which are fixed at times indicated by signs of the 
zodiac. In the hig^her tribes elaborate calendars 
are devised from which we unravel their picture- 
writings. 

The practice of medicine by the shamans is an 
invocation to the gods to drive out evil spirits from 
the sick and to frighten them that they may leave. 



Introduction xv 

By music and dancing they obtain the help of the 
ancients, and by a great variety of methods 
they drive out the evil beings. Resort is often 
had to scarifying and searing, especially when the 
sick man has great local pains. All American 
tribes entertain a profound belief in the doctrine 
of signatures, — simzlia, similibtis curantur, — and 
they use this belief in procuring charms as medi- 
cine to drive out the ghostly diseases that plague 
their sick folk. 

Next in importance to terpsichorean worship is 
altar worship. The altar is a space cleared upon 
the ground, or a platform raised from the ground 
or floor of the kiva or assembly-house of the 
people. Around the altar are gathered the priests 
and their acolytes, and here they make prayers and 
perform ceremonies with the aid of altar-pieces of 
various kinds, especially tablets of picture-writings 
on wood, bone, or the skins of animals. The altar- 
pieces consist of representatives of the thing for 
which supplication is made : ears of corn or vases 
of meal, ewers of water, parts of animals designed 
for food, cakes of grasshoppers, basins of honey, 
in fine any kind of food ; then crystals or frag- 
ments of rock to signify that they desire the corn 
to be hard, or of honeydew that they desire the 
corn to be sweet, or of corn of different colors that 
they desire the corn to be of a variety of colors. 
That which is of o-reat interest to students of eth- 
nology is the system of picture-writing exhibited 
on the altars. In this a great variety of things 
which they desire and a great variety of the 



xvi Introduction 

characteristics of these things are represented in 
pictographs, or modeled in clay, or carved from 
wood and bone. The graphic art, as painting and 
sculpture, has its origin with tribal men in the de- 
velopment of altar-pieces. So also the drama is 
derived from primeval worship, as the modern 
practice of medicine has been evolved from 
necromancy. 

There is another method of worship found in 
savagery, but more highly developed in barbarism, 
— the worship of sacrifice. The altar-pieces and 
the dramatic supplications of the lower stage 
gradually develop into a sacrificial stage in the 
higher culture. Then the objects are supposed to 
supply the ancients themselves with food and drink 
and the pleasures of life. This stage was most 
highly developed in Mexico, especially by the 
Nahua or Aztec, where human beings were sacri- 
ficed. In general, among the Amerinds, not only 
are sacrifices made on the altar, but they are also 
made whenever food or drink is used. Thus the 
first portions of objects designed for consumption 
are dedicated to the gods. There are in America 
many examples of these pagan religions, to a greater 
or less extent afifiliated in doctrine and in worship 
with the relieion of Christian orio^in. 

In the early history of the association of white 
men with the Seneca of New York and Pennsyl- 
vania, there was in the tribe a celebrated shaman 
named Handsome Lake, as his Indian name is 
translated into English. Handsome Lake had a 
nephew who was taken by the Spaniards to Europe 



Introduction xvii 

and educated as a priest. The nephew, on his re- 
turn to America, told many Bible stories to his 
uncle, for he speedily relapsed into paganism. The 
uncle compounded some of these Bible stories with 
Seneca folk-tales, and through his eloquence and 
o-reat influence as a shaman succeeded in establish- 

o 

incr amone the Seneca a new cult of doctrine and 
worship. The Seneca are now divided into two very 
distinct bodies who live together on the same reser- 
vation, — the one are " Christians," the other are 
" Pao-ans " who believe and teach the cult of Hand- 
some Lake. 

Mr. Gushing has introduced a hybrid tale into 
his collection, entitled " The Cock and the Mouse." 
Such tales are found again and again among the 
Amerinds. In a large majority of cases Bible 
stories are compounded with native stories, so that 
unwary people have been led to believe that the 
Amerinds are descendants of the lost tribes of 

Israel. 

J. W. Powell. 

Washington City, 
November, 1901. 



ZUNI FOLK TALES 



THE TRIAL OF LOVERS: 

OR THE MAIDEN OF MATSAKI AND THE RED FEATHER 

{Told the First Night) 

IN the days of the ancients, when Matsaki was the 
home of the children of men, there Hved, in that 
town, which is called " Salt City," because the God- 
dess of Salt made a white lake there in the days 
of the New, a beautiful maiden. She was passing 
beautiful, and the daughter of the priest-chief, who 
owned more buckskins and blankets than he could 
hang on his poles, and whose port-holes were cov- 
ered with turquoises and precious shells from the 
ocean — so many were the sacrifices he made to the 
gods. His house was the largest in Matsaki, and 
his ladder-poles were tall and decorated with slabs of 
carved wood — which you know was a great thing, 
for our grandfathers cut with the timush or flint 
knife, and even tilled their corn-fields with wooden 
hoes sharpened with stone and weighted with 
granite. That 's the reason why all the young men 
in the towns round about were in love with the 
beautiful maiden of Salt City. 

Now, there was one very fine young man who 
lived across the western plains, in the Pueblo of the 



2 Zuni Folk Tales 

Winds. He was so filled with thoughts of the 
maiden of Matsaki that he labored long to gather 
presents for her, and looked not with favor on any 
girl of his own pueblo. 

One morning he said to his fathers : " I have 
seen the maiden of Matsaki ; what think ye ? " 

" Be it well," said the old ones. So toward night 
the young man made a bundle of mantles and neck- 
laces, which he rolled up in the best and whitest 
buckskin he had. When the sun was settingf he 
started toward Matsaki, and just as the old man's 
children had grathered in to smoke and talk he 
reached the house of the maiden's father and 
climbed the ladder. He lifted the corner of the 
mat door and shouted to the people below — " Shd ! " 

''Hair' answered more than a pair of voices 
from below. 

" Pull me down," cried the young man, at the 
same time showing his bundle through the sky- 
hole. 

The maiden's mother rose and helped the young 
man down the ladder, and as he entered the fire- 
light he laid the bundle down. 

" My fathers and mothers, my sisters and friends, 
how be ye these many days ? " said he, very care- 
fully, as though he were speaking to a council. 

" Happy ! Happy !" they all responded, and they 
said also : " Sit down ; sit down on this stool," 
which they placed for him in the fire-light. 

" My daughter," remarked the old man, who was 
smoking his cigarette by the opposite side of the 
hearth-place, " when a stranger enters the house of 



The Trial of Lovers 3 

a stranger, the girl should place before him food 
and cooked things." So the girl brought from the 
great vessel in the corner fresh rolls of h^we, or 
bread of corn-flour, thin as papers, and placed them 
in a tray before the young man, where the light 
would fall on them. 

" Eat ! " said she, and he replied, " It is well." 
Whereupon he sat up very straight, and placing his 
left hand across his breast, very slowly took a roll 
of the wafer bread with his right hand and ate ever 
so little ; for you know it is not well or polite to eat 
much when you go to see a strange girl, especially 
if you want to ask her if she will let you live in the 
same house with her. So the young man ate ever 
so little, and said, " Thank you." 

" Eat more," said the old ones ; but when he re- 
plied that he was " past the naming of want," they 
said, " Have eaten," and the girl carried the tray 
away and swept away the crumbs. 

"Well," said the old man, after a short time, 
" when a stranger enters the house of a stranger, it 
is not thinking of nothing that he enters." 

" Why, that is quite true," said the youth, and 
then he waited. 

" Then what may it be that thou hast come 
thinking of ? " added the old man. 

'T have heard," said the young man, "of your 
daughter, and have seen her, and it was with 
thoughts of her that I came." 

Just then the grown-up sons of the old man, 
who had come to smoke and chat, rose and said to 
one another : " Is it not about time we should be 



4 Zuni Folk Tales 

going home ? The stars must be all out." Thus 
saying, they bade the old ones to " wait happily 
until the morning," and shook hands with the young 
man who had come, and went to the homes of their 
wives' mothers. 

*' Listen, my child ! " said the old man after they 
had gone away, turning toward his daughter, who 
was sitting near the wall and looking down at the 
beads on her belt fringe. " Listen ! You have 
heard what the young man has said. What think 
you ? " 

" Why ! I know not ; but what should I say but 
* Be it well,' " said the girl, " if thus think my old 
ones?" 

" As you may," said the old man ; and then he 
made a cigarette and smoked with the young man. 
When he had thrown away his cigarette he said to 
the mother : " Old one, is it not time to stretch out ? " 

So when the old ones were asleep in the corner, 
the girl said to the youth, but in a low voice : " Only 
possibly you love me. True, I have said ' Be it 
well ' ; but before I take your bundle and say 
'thanks,' I would that you, to prove that you 
verily love me, should go down into my corn-field, 
among the lands of the priest-chief, by the side of 
the river, and hoe all the corn in a single morning. 
If you will do this, then shall I know you love me ; 
then shall I take of your presents, and happy we 
will be together." 

" Very well," replied the young man ; " I am 
willing." 

Then the young girl lighted a bundle of cedar 



The Trial of Lovers 5 

splints and showed him a room which contained a 
bed of soft robes and blankets, and, placing her 
father's hoe near the door, bade the young man 
" wait happily unto the morning." 

So when she had gone he looked at the hoe and 
thought : " Ha ! if that be all, she shall see in the 
mornins: that I am a man." 

At the peep of day over the eastern mesa he 
roused himself, and, shouldering the wooden hoe, 
ran down to the corn-fields ; and when, as the sun 
was coming out, the young girl awoke and looked 
down from her house-top, " Aha ! " thought she, 
" he is doing well, but my children and I shall see 
how he gets on somewhat later. I doubt if he 
loves me as much as he thinks he does." 

So she went into a closed room. Down in the 
corner stood a water jar, beautifully painted and 
as brieht as new. It looked like other water jars, 
but it was not. It was wonderful, wonderful ! for 
it was covered with a stone lid which held down 
many may-flies and gnats and mosquitoes. The 
maiden lifted the lid and began to speak to the 
little animals as though she were praying. 

" Now, then, my children, this day fly ye forth 
all, and in the corn-fields by the river there shall ye 
see a young man hoeing. So hard is he working 
that he is stripped as for a race. Go forth and 
seek him." 

" Tsu-nu-nu-nu" said the flies, and " Tsi-m-m-ni" 
sang the gnats and mosquitoes ; which meant 
" Yes," you know. 

" And," further said the girl, " when ye find him, 



6 Zuni Folk Tales 

bite him, his body all over, and eat ye freely of his 
blood ; spare not his armpits, neither his neck nor 
his eyelids, and fill his ears with humming." 

And again the flies said, " Tsu-nu-nu-nu^' and 
the mosquitoes and gnats, " Tsi-ni-7ii-nu' Then, 
nu-u-u, away they all flew like a cloud of sand on 
a windy morning. 

" Blood !" exclaimed the young man. He wiped 
the sweat from his face and said, "The gods be 
angry ! " Then he dropped his hoe and rubbed 
his shins with sand and slapped his sides. ''Atu ! " 
he yelled; "what matters — what in the name 
of the Moon Mother matters with these little 
beasts that cause thoughts ? " Whereupon, crazed 
and restless as a spider on hot ashes, he rolled 
in the dust, but to no purpose, for the flies and 
gnats and mosquitoes sang '' ku-n-n" and '' tsi- 
ni-ni " about his ears until he grabbed up his 
blanket and breakfast, and ran toward the home of 
his fathers. 

''Wa-ha ha! Ho of" laughed a young man 
in the Tented Pueblo to the north, when he heard 
how the lover had fared. " Shoom ! " he sneered. 
" Much of a man he must have been to give up 
the maid of Matsaki for may-flies and gnats and 
mosquitoes ! " So on the very next morning, he, 
too, said to his old ones : " What a fool that lit- 
tle boy must have been. I will visit the maiden 
of Matsaki. I '11 show the people of Pinawa what 
a Hampasawan man can do. Courage ! " — and, 
as the old ones said " Be it well," he went as the 
other had gone ; but, pshaw ! he fared no better. 



The Trial of Lovers 7 

After some time, a young man who Hved in the 
River Town heard about it and laughed as hard 
as the youth of the Tented Pueblo had. He 
called the two others fools, and said that "girls 
were not in the habit of asking much when one's 
bundle was large." And as he was a young man 
who had everything, he made a bundle of presents 
as large as he could carry ; but it did him no good. 
He, too, ran away from the may-flies and gnats 
and mosquitoes. 

Many days passed before any one else would 
try again to woo the maiden of Matsaki. They 
did not know, it is true, that she was a Passing 
Being ; but others had failed all on account of 
mosquitoes and may-flies and little black gnats, 
and had been more satisfied with shame than a 
full hungry man with food. "That is sick satis- 
faction," they would say to one another, the fear 
of which made them wait to see what others would 
do. 

Now, in the Ant Hill, which was named Halon- 
awan,^ lived a handsome young man, but he was 
poor, although the son of the priest -chief of 
Halonawan. He thought many days, and at last 
said to his grandmother, who was very old and 
crafty, 'H6-ta f " 

' The ancient pueblo of Zuni itself was called Halonawan, or the Ant 
Hill, the ruins of which, now buried beneath the sands, lie opposite the 
modern town within the cast of a stone. Long before Halonawan was 
abandoned, the nucleus of the present structure was begun around one 
of the now central plazas. It was then, and still is, in the ancient songs 
and rituals of the Zunis, Hdlotia-{tiwana , or the "Middle Ant Hill of 
the World," and was often spoken of in connection with the older town as 
simply the "Ant Hill." 



8 Zuni Folk Tales 

"What sayest my ndnaf'' said the old woman; 
for, like grandmothers nowadays, she was very 
soft and gentle to her grandson. 

" I have seen the maiden of Matsaki and my 
thoughts kill me with longing, for she is passing 
beautiful and wisely slow. I do not wonder that 
she asks hard tasks of her lovers ; for it is not 
of their bundles that she thinks, but of themselves. 
Now, I strengthen my thoughts with my manli- 
ness. My heart is hard against weariness, and I 
would go and speak to the beautiful maiden." 

''Yo d! my poor boy," said the grandmother. 
" She is as wonderful as she is wise and beautiful. 
She thinks not of men save as brothers and 
friends ; and she it is, I bethink me, who sends 
the may-flies and gnats and mosquitoes, therefore, 
to drive them away. They are but disguised 
beings, and beware, my grandson, you will only 
cover yourself with shame as a man is covered 
with water who walks through a rain-storm ! I 
would not go, my poor grandchild. I would not 
go," she added, shaking her head and biting her 
lips till her chin touched her nose-tip. 

"Yes, but I must go, my grandmother. Why 
should I live only to breathe hard with longing ? 
Perhaps she will better her thoughts toward me." 

" Ah, yes, but all the same, she will test thee. 
Well, go to the mountains and scrape bitter bark 
from the finger-root ; make a little loaf of the 
bark and hide it in your belt, and when the maiden 
sends you down to the corn-field, work hard at the 
hoeing until sunrise. Then, when your body is 



The Trial of Lovers 9 

covered with sweat-drops, rub every part with the 
root-bark. The finger-root bark, it is bitter as bad 
sah mixed in with bad water, and the * horn- 
wings ' and ' long-beaks ' and ' blue-backs ' fly far 
from the salt that is bitter." 

" Then, my gentle grandmother, I will try your 
words and thank you," — for he was as gentle and 
good as his grandmother was knowing and crafty. 
Even that day he went to the mountains and 
gathered a ball of finger-root. Then, toward even- 
ing, he took a little bundle and went up the trail 
by the river-side to Matsaki. When he climbed 
the ladder and shouted down the mat door : '' Slid ! 
Are ye within ? " the people did not answer at once, 
for the old ones were angry with their daughter 
that she had sent off so many fine lovers. But 
when he shouted again they answered : 

" Hai, and Ee, we are within. Be yourself 
within." 

Then without help he went down the ladder, 
but he did n't mind, for he felt himself poor and 
his bundle was small. As he entered the fire-light 
he greeted the people pleasantly and gravely, and 
with thanks took the seat that was laid for him. 

Now, you see, the old man was angry with the 
girl, so he did not tell her to place cooked things 
before him, but turned to his old wife. 

" Old one," he began — but before he had fin- 
ished the maiden arose and brought rich venison 
stew and flaky hdwe, which she placed before the 
youth where the fire's brightness would fall upon 
it, with meat broth for drink ; then she sat down 



lo Zuni Folk Tales 

opposite him and said, " Eat and drink ! " Where- 
upon the young man took a roll of the wafer-bread 
and, breaking it in two, gave the girl the larger 
piece, which she bashfully accepted. 

The old man raised his eyebrows and upper lids, 
looked at his old wife, spat in the fireplace, and 
smoked hard at his cigarette, joining the girl in 
her invitation by saying, " Yes, have to eat well." 

Soon the young man said, *' Thanks," and the 
maiden quickly responded, " Eat more," and " Have 
eaten." 

After brushing the crumbs away the girl sat 
down by her mother, and the father rolled a ciga- 
rette for the young man and talked longer with him 
than he had with the others. 

After the old ones had stretched out in the 
corner and begun to "scrape their nostrils with 
their breath," the maiden turned to the young 
man and said : " I have a corn-field in the lands 
of the priest-chief, down by the river, and if 
you truly love me, I would that you should hoe 
the whole in a single morning. Thus may you 
prove yourself a man, and to love me truly ; and if 
you will do this, happily, as day follows day, will 
we live each with the other." 

''Hai-i/" replied the young man, who smiled 
as he listened ; and as the young maiden looked 
at him, sitting in the fading fire-light with the 
smile on his face, she thought : " Only possibly. 
But oh ! how I wish his heart might be strong, 
even though his bundle be not heavy nor large. 

" Come with me, young man, and I will show you 



The Trial of Lovers ii 

where you are to await the morning. Early take 
my father's hoe, which stands by the doorway, and 
go down to the corn-field long before the night 
shadows have run away from Thunder Mountain " 
— with which she bade him pass a night of content- 
ment and sought her own place. 

When all was still, the young man climbed to 
the sky-hole and in the starlight asked the gods of 
the woodlands and waters to give strength to his 
hands and power to his prayer-medicine, and to 
meet and bless him with the light of their favor ; 
and he threw to the night-wind meal of the seeds 
of earth and the waters of the world with which 
those who are wise fail not to make smooth their 
trails of life. Then he slept till the sky of the 
day-land grew yellow and the shadows of the 
night-land grew gray, and then shouldered his hoe 
and went down to the corn-field. His task was 
not great, for the others had hoed much. Where 
they left off, there he fell to digging right and left 
with all his strength and haste, till the hard soil 
mellowed and the earth flew before his strokes as 
out of the burrows of the strongest-willed gophers 
and other digging creatures. 

When the sun rose the maiden looked forth and 
saw that his task was already half done. But still 
she waited. As the sun warmed the day and the 
youth worked on, the dewdrops of flesh stood all 
over his body and he cast away, one after the 
other, his blanket and sash and even his leggings 
and moccasins. Then he stopped to look around. 
By the side of the field grew tall yellow-tops. He 



12 Zuni Folk Tales 

ran into the thicket and rubbed every part of his 
body, yea, even the hair of his head and his ear- 
tips and nostrils, with the bark of the finger-root. 
Again he fell to work as though he had only been 
resting, and wondered why the may-flies and gnats 
and mosquitoes came not to cause him thoughts as 
they had the others. Yet still the girl lingered ; 
but at last she went slowly to the room where the 
jar stood. 

" It is absurd," thought she, "that I should hope 
it or even care for it ; it would indeed be great if it 
were well true that a young man should love me so 
verily as to hold his face to the front through such 
a testing." Nevertheless, she drew the lid off and 
bade her strange children to spare him no more 
than they had the others. 

All hasty to feast themselves on the "waters of 
life," as our old grandfathers would say for blood, 
again they rushed out and hummed along over the 
corn-fields in such numbers that they looked more 
like a wind-driven sandstorm than ever, and " tsi- 
m-nz-i, tso-no-o " they hummed and buzzed about 
the ears of the young man when they came to him, 
so noisily that the poor fellow, who kept at work 
all the while, thought they were already biting him. 
But it was only fancy, for the first may-fly that did 
bite him danced in the air with disgust and ex- 
claimed to his companions, ''Sho-o-o-m-m ! " and " U's- 
d / " which meant that he had eaten something nasty, 
that tasted as badly as vile odors smell. So not 
another may-fly in the throng would bite, although 
they all kept singing their song about his ears. And 



The Trial of Lovers 13 

to this day may-flies are careful whom they bite, 
and dance a long time in the air before they do it. 

Then a gnat tried it and gasped, " Wehf " which 
meant that his stomach had turned over, and he 
had such a sick headache that he reeled round and 
round in the air, and for that reason gnats always 
bite very quickly, for fear their stomachs will turn 
over, and they will reel and reel round and round 
in the air before doing it. 

Finally, long-beak himself tried it, and, as long- 
beak hangs on, you know, longer than most other 
little beasts, he kept hold until his two hindlegs 
were warped out of shape ; but at last he had to let 
go, too, and flew straight away, crying, " Yd kotcJii! " 
which meant that something bitter had burned his 
snout. Now, for these reasons mosquitoes always 
have bent-up hindlegs, which they keep lifting up 
and down while biting, as though they were stand- 
ing on something hot, and they are apt to sing and 
smell around very cautiously before spearing us, 
and they fly straight away, you will notice, as soon 
as they are done. 

Now, when the rest of the gnats and mosquitoes 
heard the words of their elder brothers, they did as 
the may-flies had done — did not venture, no, not 
one of them, to bite the young lover. They all flew 
away and settled down on the yellow-tops, where 
they had a council, and decided to go and find 
some prairie-dogs to bite. Therefore you will al- 
most always find may-flies, gnats, and mosquitoes 
around prairie-dog holes in summer time when the 
corn is growing. 



14 Zuni Folk Tales 

So the young man breathed easily as he hoed 
hard to finish his task ere the noonday, and when 
the maiden looked down and saw that he still 
labored there, she said to herself : " Ah, indeed he 
must love me, for still he is there ! Well, it may be, 
for only a little longer and they will leave him in 
peace." Hastily she placed venison in the cooking- 
pot and prepared fresh h^we and sweetened bread, 
"for maybe," she still thought, "and then I will 
have it ready for him." 

Now, alas ! you do not know that this good and 
beautiful maiden had a sister, alas ! — a sister as 
beautiful as herself, but bad and double-hearted ; 
and you know when people have double hearts 
they are wizards or witches, and have double 
tongues and paired thoughts — such a sister elder 
had the maiden of Matsaki, alas ! 

When the sun had climbed almost to the middle 
of the sky, the maiden, still doubtful, looked down 
once more. He was there, and was workingr 
among the last hills of corn. 

" Ah, truly indeed he loves me," she thought, 
and she hastened to put on her necklaces and 
bracelets of shells, her ear-rings as long as your 
fingers — of turquoises, — and her fine cotton man- 
tles with borders of stitched butterflies of summer- 
land, and flowers of the autumn. Then she took 
a new bowl from the stick-rack in the corner, and a 
large many-colored tray that she had woven her- 
self, and she filled the one with meat broth, and 
the other with the h^we and sweet-bread, and 
placing the bowl of meat broth on her head, she 



The Trial of Lovers 15 

took the tray of hdwe in her hand, and started 
down toward the corn-field by the river-side to meet 
her lover and to thank him. 

Witches are always jealous of the happiness and 
good fortune of others. So was the sister of the 
beautiful maiden jealous when she saw the smile 
on her hams face as she tripped toward the river. 

''Ho hd / '' said the two-hearted sister. " Tdjn- 
ithlokzva thlokwd ! Wanani!'' which are words 
of defiance and hatred, used so long ago by de- 
mons and wizards that no one knows nowadays 
what they mean except the last one, which plainly 
says, " Just wait a bit !" and she hastened to dress 
herself, through her wicked knowledge, exactly 
as the beautiful maiden was dressed. She even 
carried just such a bowl and tray ; and as she was 
beautiful, like her younger sister, nobody could 
have known the one from the other, or the other 
from the one. Then she passed herself through 
a hoop of magic yucca, which made her seem not 
to be where she was, for no one could see her un- 
less she willed it. 

Now, just as the sun was resting in the middle 
of the sky, the young man finished the field and 
ran down to the river to wash. Before he was 
done, he saw the maiden coming down the trail 
with the bowl on her head and the tray in her 
hand ; so he made haste, and ran back to dress 
himself and to sit down to wait for her. As she 
approached, he said : " Thou comest, and may it be 
happily," — when lo ! there appeared two maidens 
exactly alike ; so he quickly said, "Ye come." 



i6 Zuni Folk Tales 

"^/' said the maidens, so nearly together that 
it sounded like one voice ; but when they both 
placed the same food before him, the poor young 
man looked from one to the other, and asked : 

" Alas ! of which am I to eat ? " 

Then it was that the maiden suddenly saw her 
sister, and became hot with anger, for she knew 
her wicked plans. " Ah, thou foolish sister, why 
didst thou come ? " she said. But the other only 
replied : 

"Ah, thou foolish sister, why didst thou come?" 

" Go back, for he is mine-to-be," said the maiden, 
beginning to cry. 

" Go back, for he is mine-to-be," said the bad 
one, pretending to cry. 

And thus they quarrelled until they had given 
one another smarting words four times, when they 
fell to fighting — as women always fight, by pulling 
each other's hair, and scratching, and grappling 
until they rolled over each other in the sand. 

The poor young man started forward to part 
them, but he knew not one from the other, so 
thinking that the bad one must know how to fight 
better than his beautiful maiden wife, he suddenly 
caught up his stone-weighted hoe, and furiously 
struck the one that was uppermost on the head, 
again and again, until she let go her hold, and fell 
back, murmuring and moaning : " Alas ! that thus 
it should be after all, after all ! " Then she forgot, 
and her eyes ceased to see. 

While yet the young man looked, lo ! there was 
only the dying maiden before him ; but in the air 



The Trial of Lovers 17 

above circled an ugly black Crow, that laughed 
" kawkaw, kawkaWy kawkaw ! " and flew away to 
its cave in Thunder Mountain. 

Then the young man knew. He cried aloud 
and beat his breast ; then he ran to the river and 
brought water and bathed the blood away from 
the maiden's temples ; but alas ! she only smiled 
and talked with her lips, then grew still and cold. 

Alone, as the sun travelled toward the land of 
evening, wept the young man over the body of his 
beautiful wife. He knew nauQfht but his sad 
thoughts. He took her in his arms, and placed 
his face close to hers, and again and again he 
called to her : " Alas, alas ! my beautiful wife ; I 
loved thee, I love thee. Alas, alas ! Ah, my 
beautiful wife, my beautiful wife ! " 

When the people returned from their fields in 
the evening, they missed the beautiful maiden of 
Matsaki ; and they saw the young man, bending 
low and alone over something down in the lands 
of the priest-chief by the river, and when they 
told the old father, he shook his head and said : 

" It is not well with my beautiful child ; but as 
They (the gods) say, thus must all things be." 
Then he smiled — for the heart of a priest-chief 
never cries, — and told them to go and bring her 
to the plaza of Matsaki and bury her before the 
House of the Sun ; for he knew what had happened. 

So the people did as their father had told them. 
They went down at sunset and took the beautiful 
maiden away, and wrapped her in mantles, and 
buried her near the House of the Sun. 



i8 Zuni Folk Tales 

But the poor young man knew naught but his 
sad thoughts. He followed them ; and when he 
had made her grave, he sat down by her earth 
bed and would not leave her. No, not even when 
the sun set, but moaned and called to her : " Alas, 
alas ! my beautiful wife ; I loved thee, I love thee ; 
even though I knew not thee and killed thee. 
Alas ! Ah, my beautiful wife ! " 

'' Shonetchi! '' ("There is left of my story.") 
And what there is left, I will tell you some other 
night. 

( Told the Second Night) 

" Sonahtchi! " 

" Sons shonetchi / " (" There is left of my story " ;) 
but I will tell you not alone of the Maid of Matsaki, 
because the young man killed her, for he knew not 
his wife from the other. It is of the Red Feather, 
or the Wife of Matsaki that I will tell you this 
sitting. 

Even when the sun set, and the hills and houses 
grew black in the shadows, still the young man sat 
by the grave-side, his hands rested upon his knees 
and his face buried in them. And the people no 
longer tried to steal his sad thoughts from him ; 
but, instead, left him, as one whose mind errs, to 
wail out with weeping : " Alas, alas ! my beautiful 
wife ; I loved thee, I love thee ; even though I 
knew not thee and killed thee ! Alas ! Ah, my 
beautiful wife ! " 

But when the moon set on the western hills, and 



The Trial of Lovers 19 

the great snowdrift streaked across the mid-sky, 
and the night was half gone, the sad watcher saw 
a light in the grave-sands like the light of the 
embers that die in the ashes. As he watched, his 
sad thoughts became bright thoughts, for the light 
grew and brightened till it burned the dark grave- 
sands as sunlight the shadows. Lo ! the bride lay- 
beneath. She tore off her mantles and raised up 
in her grave-bed. Then she looked at the eager 
lover so coldly and sadly that his bright thoughts 
all darkened, for she mournfully told him : " Alas ! 
Ah, my lover, my husband knew not me from the 
other ; loved me not, therefore killed me ; even 
though I had hoped for love, loved me not, there- 
fore killed me ! " 

Again the young man buried his face in his 
hands and shook his head mournfully ; and like one 
whose thoughts erred, again he wailed his lament : 
" Alas, alas ! my beautiful bride ! I do love thee ; 
I loved thee, but I did not know thee and killed 
thee ! Alas ! Ah, my beautiful bride, my beautiful 
bride ! " 

At last, as the great star rose from the sky-land, 
the dead maiden spoke softly to the mourning 
lover, yet her voice was sad and strange : " Young 
man, mourn thou not, but go back to the home of 
thy fathers. Knowest thou not that I am another 
being ? When the sky of the day-land grows 
yellow and the houses come out of the shadows, 
then will the light whereby thou sawest me, fade 
away in the morn-light, as the blazes of late coun- 
cils pale their red in the sunlight." Then her voice 



20 Zuni Folk Tales 

grew sadder as she said : " I am only a spirit ; for 
remember, alas ! ah, my lover, my husband knew 
not me from the other — loved me not, therefore 
killed me ; even though I had hoped for love, 
loved me not, therefore killed me." 

But the young man would not go until, in the 
gray of the morning, he saw nothing where the 
light had appeared but the dark sand of the grave 
as it had been. Then he arose and went away in 
sorrow. Nor would he all day speak to men, but 
gazed only whither his feet stepped and shook his 
head sadly like one whose thoughts wandered. 
And when again the houses and hills grew black 
with the shadows, he sought anew the fresh grave 
and sat down by its side, bowed his head and still 
murmured : '* Alas, alas ! my beautiful wife, I 
loved thee, though I knew not thee, and killed 
thee. Alas ! Ah, my beautiful wife ! " 

Even brighter glowed the light in the grave- 
sands when the night was divided, and the maid- 
en's spirit arose and sat in her grave-bed, but she 
only reproached him and bade him go. " For," said 
she, " I am only a spirit ; remember, alas ! ah, my 
lover, my husband knew not me from the other ; 
loved me not, therefore killed me ; even though I 
had hoped for love, loved me not, therefore killed 
me!" 

But he left only in the morning, and again when 
the dark came, returned to the grave-side. 

When the light shone that night, the maiden, 
more beautiful than ever, came out of the grave- 
bed and sat by her lover. Once more she urged 



The Trial of Lovers 21 

him to return to his fathers ; but when she saw 
that he would not, she said : " Thou hadst better, 
for I go a long journey. As light as the wind is, 
so light will my feet be ; as long as the day is, thou 
canst not my form see. Know thou not that the 
spirits are seen but in darkness ? for, alas ! ah, my 
lover, my husband knew not me from the other; 
loved me not, therefore killed me ; even though I had 
hoped for love, loved me not, therefore killed me ! " 

Then the young man ceased bemoaning his 
beautiful bride. He looked at her sadly, and said : 
" I do love thee, my beautiful wife ! I do love 
thee, and whither thou o-oest let me therefore o-q 
with thee ! I care not how long is the journey, 
nor how hard is the way. If I can but see thee, 
even only at night time, then will I be happy and 
cease to bemoan thee. It was because I loved thee 
and would have saved thee ; but alas, my beautiful 
wife ! I knew not thee, therefore killed thee ! " 

" Alas ! Ah, my lover ; and Ah ! how I loved 
thee ; but I am a spirit, and thou art unfinished. 
But if thou thus love me, go back when I leave 
thee and plume many prayer-sticks. Choose a 
light, downy feather and dye it with ocher. Wrap 
up in thy blanket a lunch for four daylights ; 
bring with thee much prayer-meal ; come to me at 
midnight and sit by my grave-side, and when in the 
eastward the dayland is lighting, tie over my fore- 
head the reddened light feather, and when with 
the morning I fade from thy vision, follow only the 
feather until it is evening, and then thou shalt see 
me and sit down beside me." 



22 Zuni Folk Tales 

So at sunrise the young man went away and 
gathered feathers of the summer birds, and cut 
many prayer-sticks, whereon he bound them with 
cotton, as gifts to the Fathers. Then he found a 
beautiful downy feather plucked from the eagle, 
and dyed it red with ocher, and tied to it a string 
of cotton wherewith to fasten it over the forehead 
of the spirit maiden. When night came, he took 
meal made from parched corn and burnt sweet- 
bread, and once more went down to the plaza and 
sat by the grave-side. 

When midnight came and the light glowed forth 
through the grave-sands, lo ! the maiden-spirit came 
out and stood by his side. She seemed no longer 
sad, but happy, like one going home after long ab- 
sence. Nor was the young man sad or single- 
thoughted like one whose mind errs ; so they sat 
together and talked of their journey till the day- 
land grew yellow and the black shadows gray, and 
the houses and hills came out of the darkness. 

" Once more would I tell thee to go back," said 
the maiden's spirit to the young man ; " but I 
know why thou goest with me, and it is well. Only 
watch me when the day comes, and thou wilt see me 
no more ; but look whither the plume goeth, and 
follow, for thou knowest that thou must tie it to 
the hair above my forehead." 

Then the young man took the bright red plume 
out from among the feathers of sacrifice, and gently 
tied it above the maiden-spirit's forehead. 

As the light waved up from behind the great 
mountain the red glow faded out from the grave- 



The Trial of Lovers 23 

sands and the youth looked in vain for the spirit of 
the maiden ; but before him, at the height of one's 
hands when standing-, waved the light downy- 
feather in the wind of the morning. Then the 
plume, not the wife, rose before him, like the 
plumes on the head of a dancer, and moved through 
the streets that led westward, and down through 
the fields to the river. And out through the streets 
that led westward, and down on the trail by 
the river, and on over the plains always to- 
ward the land of evening, the young man fol- 
lowed close the red feather ; but at last he begfan 
to grow weary, for the plume glided swiftly before 
him, until at last it left him far behind, and even 
now and then lost him entirely. Then, as he 
hastened on, he called in anguish : 

" My beautiful bride ! My beautiful bride ! 
Oh, where art thou ?" 

But the plume, not the wife, stopped and waited. 
And thus the plume and the young man journeyed 
until, toward evening, they came to the forests of 
sweet-smelling pifions and cedars. As the night 
hid the hills in the shadows, alas ! the plume dis- 
appeared, but the young man pressed onward, for 
he knew that the plume still journeyed westward. 
Yet at times he was so weary that he almost lost 
the strength of his thoughts ; for he ran into trees 
by the trail-side and stumbled over dry roots and 
branches. So again and again he would call out 
in anguish : " My beautiful wife ! My beautiful 
bride ! Oh, where art thou ? " 

At last, when the night was divided, to his joy 



24 Zuni Folk Tales 

he saw, far away on the hill-top, a light that was 
red and grew brighter like the light of a camp-fire's 
red embers when fanned by the wind of the night- 
time. And like a star that is rising or setting, the 
red light sat still on the hill-top. So he ran 
hastily forward, until, as he neared the red light, 
lo ! there sat the spirit of the beautiful maiden ; 
and as he neared her, she said : 

" Comest thou?" and "How hast thou come 
to the eveninor ?" 

As she spoke she smiled, and motioned him to 
sit down beside her. He was so weary that he 
slept while he talked to her ; but, remember, she 
was a spirit, therefore she slept not. 

Just as the morning star came up from the day- 
land, the maiden rose to journey on, and the 
young man, awaking, followed her. But as the 
hills came out of the shadows, the form of 
the maiden before him grew fainter and fainter, 
until it faded entirely, and only the red plume 
floated before him, like the plume on the head of 
a dancer. Far ahead and fast floated the plume, 
until it entered a plain of lava filled with sharp 
crags ; yet still it went on, for the maiden's spirit 
moved over the barriers as lightly as the down of 
dead flowers in autumn. But alas ! the young 
man had to seek his way, and the plume again left 
him far behind, until he was forced to cry out : 
" Ah, my beautiful bride, do wait for me, for I 
love thee, and will not turn from thee ! " Then 
the plume stopped on the other side of the crags 
and waited until the poor young man came nearer, 



The Trial of Lovers 25 

his feet and legs cut and bleeding, and his wind 
almost out. Then the trail was more even, and 
led through wide plains ; but even thus the young 
man could scarce keep the red plume in sight. 
But at night the maiden awaited him in a sheltered 
place, and they rested together beneath the cedars 
until daylight. Then again she faded out in the 
daylight, and the red plume led the way. 

For a long time the trail was pleasant, but to- 
ward evening they came to a wide bed of cactus, 
and the plume passed over as swiftly as ever, but 
the young man's moccasins were soon torn and 
his feet and legs cruelly lacerated with the cactus 
spines ; yet still he pursued the red plume until the 
pain seemed to sting his whole body, and he 
gasped and wailed : " Ah, my beautiful wife, wait 
for me ; do wait, for I love thee and will not leave 
thee ! " Then the plume stopped beyond the 
plain of cactus and waited until he had passed 
through, but not longer, for ere he had plucked all 
the needles of the cactus from his bleedine feet, it 
floated on, and he lifted himself up and followed 
until at evening the maiden again waited and bade 
him "Sit down and rest." 

That night she seemed to pity him, and once 
more spoke to him : " Vo a! My lover, my hus- 
band, turn back, oh, turn back ! for the way is 
long and untrodden, and thy heart is but weak and 
is mortal. I go to the Council of Dead Ones, and 
how can the living there enter ? " 

But the youth only wept, and begged that she 
let him go with her. "For, ah," said he, "my 



26 Zuni Folk Tales 

beautiful wife, my beautiful bride, I love thee and 
cannot turn from thee ! " 

And she smiled only and shook her head sadly 
as she replied: '' Vo d ! It shall be as thou 
wiliest. It may be thy heart will not wither, for 
tomorrow is one more day onward, and then 
down the trail to the waters wherein stands the 
ladder of others, shall I lead thee to wait me for- 
ever." 

At mid-sun on the day after, the plume led the 
way straight to a deep canon, the walls of which 
were so steep that no man could pass them alive. 
For a moment the red plume paused above the 
chasm, and the youth pressed on and stretched 
his hand forth to detain it ; but ere he had gained 
the spot, it floated on straight over the dark canon, 
as though no ravine had been there at all ; for to 
spirits the trails that once have been, even though 
the waters have worn them away, still are. 

Wildly the young man rushed up and down the 
steep brink, and despairingly he called across to 
the plume : " Alas ! ah, my beautiful wife ! Wait, 
only wait for me, for I love thee and cannot turn 
from thee ! " Then, like one whose thoughts wan- 
dered, he threw himself over the brink and hung 
by his hands as if to drop, when a jolly little striped 
Squirrel, who was playing at the bottom of the 
canon, happened to see him, and called out : 
" Tsithl ! Tsithl!'' and much more, which meant 
''Ah hai! Wanani / '' "You crazy fool of a be- 
ing ! You have not the wings of a falcon, nor the 
hands of a Squirrel, nor the feet of a spirit, and if 



The Trial of Lovers 27 

you drop you will be broken to pieces and the 
moles will eat up the fragments ! Wait ! Hold 
hard, and I will help you, for, though I am but a 
Squirrel, I know how to think ! " 

Whereupon the little chit ran chattering away 
and called his mate out of their house in a rock- 
nook : " Wife ! Wife ! Come quickly ; run to our 
corn room and bring me a hemlock, and hurry ! 
hurry ! Ask me no questions ; for a crazy fool of 
a man over here will break himself to pieces if we 
don't quickly make him a ladder." 

So the little wife flirted her brush in his face and 
skipped over the rocks to their store-house, where 
she chose a fat hemlock and hurried to her hus- 
band who was digging a hole in the sand under- 
neath where the young man was hanging. Then 
they spat on the seed, and buried it in the hole, 
and began to dance round it and sing, — 

** Kidthld tsilu, 

Silokwe, silokwe, silokive ; 
Ki'ai silu silu, 

Tsithl ! Tsithlf" 

Which meant, as far as any one can tell now (for 
it was a long time ago, and partly squirrel talk), 

" Hemlock of the 

Tall kind, tall kind, tall kind, 
Sprout up hemlock, hemlock, 
Chit ! Chit ! " 

And every time they danced around and sang the 
song through, the ground moved, until the fourth 



28 Zuni Folk Tales 

time they said " Tsithl ! Tsithl ! " the tree sprouted 
forth and kept growing until the little Squirrel 
could jump into it, and by grabbing the topmost 
boueh and bracino; himself aofainst the branches 
below, could stretch and pull it, so that in a short 
time he made it grow as high as the young man's 
feet, and he had all he could do to keep the poor 
youth from jumping right into it before it was 
strong enough to hold him. Presently he said 
" TsitJil ! Tsithl ! " and whisked away before the 
young man had time to thank him. Then the sad 
lover climbed down and quickly gained the other 
side, which was not so steep ; before he could rest 
from his climb, however, the plume floated on, and 
he had to get up and follow it. 

Just as the sun went into the west, the plume 
hastened down into a valley between the moun- 
tains, where lay a beautiful lake ; and around the 
borders of the lake a very ugly old man and wo- 
man, who were always walking back and forth 
across the trails, came forward and laughed loudly 
and greeted the beautiful maiden pleasantly. Then 
they told her to enter ; and she fearlessly walked 
into the water, and a ladder of flags came up out 
of the middle of the lake to receive her, down 
which she stepped without stopping until she 
passed under the waters. For a little — and then 
all was over — a bright light shone out of the 
water, and the sound of many glad voices and soft 
merry music came also from beneath it ; then the 
stars of the sky and the stars of the waters looked 
the same at each other as they had done before. 



The Trial of Lovers 29 

" Alas ! " cried the young man as he ran to the 
lake-side. " Ah, my beautiful wife, my beautiful 
wife, only wait, only wait, that I may go with 
thee ! " But only the smooth waters and the old 
man and woman were before him ; nor did the 
ladder come out or the old ones ereet him. So he 
sat down on the lake-side wrinmnof his hands and 
weeping, and ever his mind wandered back to his 
old lament : " Alas ! alas ! my beautiful bride, my 
beautiful wife, I love thee ; I loved thee, but I knew 
not thee and killed thee ! " 

Toward the middle of the night once more he 
heard strange, happy voices. The doorway to the 
Land of Spirits opened, and the light shot up 
through the dark green waters from many win- 
dows, like sparks from a chimney on a dark, wind- 
less night. Then the ladder again ascended, and 
he saw the forms of the dead pass out and in, and 
heard the sounds of the Kdkd, as it danced for the 
gods. The comers and goers were bright and 
beautiful, but their garments were snow-white cot- 
ton, stitched with many-colored threads, and their 
necklaces and bracelets were of dazzling white 
shells and turquoises unnumbered. Once he ven- 
tured to gain the bright entrance, but the water 
grew deep and chilled him till he trembled with 
fear and cold. Yet he looked in at the entrances, 
and lo ! as he gazed he caught sight of his beauti- 
ful bride all covered with grarments and bright 
things. And there in the midst of the Kdkd she 
sat at the head of the dancers. She seemed happy 
and smiled as she watched, and youths as bright 



30 Zuni Folk Tales 

and as happy came around her, and she seemed to 
forg-et her lone lover. 

Then with a cry of despair and anguish he 
crawled to the lake-shore and buried his face in 
the sands and rank grasses. Suddenly he heard a 
low screech, and then a hoarse voice seemed to call 
him. He looked, and a great Owl flew over him, 
saying : " Muhai ! Hu hu ! Hu hu / " 

" What wilt thou ? " he cried, in vexed anguish. 

Then the Owl flew closer, and, lighting, asked : 
" Why weepest thou, my child ? " 

He turned and looked at the Owl and told it 
part of his trouble, when the Owl suddenly twisted 
its head quite around — as owls do — to see if any- 
one were near ; then came closer and said : " I know 
all about it, young man. Come with me to my 
house in the mountain, and if thou wilt but follow 
my counsel, all will yet be well." Then the Owl 
led the way to a cave far above and bade him step 
in. As he placed his foot inside the opening, be- 
hold ! it widened into a bright room, and many 
Owl-men and Owl-women around greeted him hap- 
pily, and bade him sit down and eat. 

The old Owl who had brought him, changed him- 
self in a twinkling, as he entered the room, and 
hung his owl-coat on an antler. Then he went 
away, but presently returned, bringing a little bag 
of medicine. " Before I give thee this, let me tell 
thee what to do, and what thou must promise," 
said he of the owl-coat. 

The young man eagerly reached forth his hand 
for the mao-ic medicine. 



The Trial of Lovers 31 

" Fool ! " cried the being ; " were it not well, for 
that would I not help thee. Thou art too eager, 
and I will not trust thee with my medicine of 
sleep. Thou shalt sleep here, and when thou 
awakest thou shalt find the morning star in the 
sky, and thy dead wife before thee on the trail 
toward the Middle Ant Hill. With the rising sun 
she will wake and smile on thee. Be not foolish, 
but journey preciously with her, and not until ye 
reach the home of thy fathers shalt thou approach 
her or kiss her ; for if thou doest this, all will be 
as nothing again. But if thou doest as I counsel 
thee, all will be well, and happily may ye live one 
with the other." 

He ceased, and, taking a tiny pinch of the medi- 
cine, blew it in the face of the youth. Instantly 
the young man sank with sleep where he had been 
sitting, and the beings, putting on their owl-coats, 
flew away with him under some trees by the trail 
that led to Matsaki and the Ant Hill of the Middle. 

Then they flew over the lake, and threw the 
medicine of sleep in at the windows, and taking 
the plumed prayer-sticks which the young man had 
brought with him, they chose some red plumes for 
themselves, and with the others entered the home 
of the Kdkd. Softly they flew over the sleeping 
fathers and their children (the gods of the Kdkd 
and the spirits) and, laying the prayer-plumes be- 
fore the great altar, caught up the beautiful maiden 
and bore her over the waters and woodlands to 
where the young man was still sleeping. Then 
they hooted and flew off to their mountain. 



32 Zuni Folk Tales 

As the great star came out of the dayland, the 
young man awoke, and lo ! there before him lay 
his own beautiful wife. Then he turned his face 
away that he might not be tempted, and waited 
with joy and longing for the coming out of the 
sun. When at last the sun came out, with the 
first ray that brightened the beautiful maiden's 
face, she opened her eyes and gazed wildly around 
at first, but seeing her lonely lover, smiled, and 
said : " Truly, thou lovest me ! " 

Then they arose and journeyed apart toward the 
home of their fathers, and the young man forgot 
not the counsel of the Owl, but journeyed wisely, 
till on the fourth day they came in sight of the 
Mountain of Thunder and saw the river that flows 
by Salt City. 

As they began to go down into the valley, the 
maiden stopped and said : ** Hahud, I am weary, 
for the journey is long and the day is warm." 
Then she sat down in the shadow of a cedar and 
said : " Watch, my husband, while I sleep a little ; 
only a little, and then we will journey together 
again." And he said : " Be it well." 

Then she lay down and seemed to sleep. She 
smiled and looked so beautiful to the longing lover 
that he softly rose and crept close to her. Then, 
alas ! he laid his hand upon her and kissed her. 

Quickly the beautiful maiden started. Her face 
was all covered with sadness, and she said, hastily 
and angrily : " Ah, thou shameless fool ! I now 
know ! Thou lovest me not ! How vain that I 
should have hoped for thy love ! " 



The Trial of Lovers 



33 



With shame, indeed, and sorrow, he bent his 
head low and covered his face with his hands. 
Then he started to speak, when an Owl flew up 
and hooted mournfully at him from a tree-top. 
Then the Owl winged her way to the westward, 
and ever after the young man's mind wandered. 

Alas ! alas ! Thus it was in the days of the 
ancients. Maybe had the young man not kissed 
her yonder toward the Lake of the Dead, we 
would never have journeyed nor ever have 
mourned for others lost. But then it is well ! If 
men and women had never died, then the world 
long ago had overflown with children, starvation, 
and warring. 

Thus shortens my story. 





THE YOUTH AND HIS EAGLE 

IN forgotten times, in the days of our ancients, at 
the Middle Place, or what is now Shiwina 
(Zuni), there lived a youth who was well grown, or 
perfect in manhood. He had a pet Eagle which 
he kept in a cage down on the roof of the first 
terrace of the house of his family. He loved this 
Eagle so dearly that he could not endure to be 
separated from it ; not only this, but he spent 
nearly all his time in caring for and fondling his 
pet. Morning, noon, and evening, yea, and even 
between those times, you would see him going 
down to the eagle-cage with meat and other kinds 
of delicate food. Day after day there you would 
find him sitting beside the Eagle, petting it and 
making affectionate speeches, to all of which treat- 
ment the bird responded with a most satisfied air, 
and seemed equally fond of his owner. 

Whenever a storm came the youth would hasten 
out of the house, as though the safety of the crops 
depended upon it, to protect the Eagle. So, win- 
ter and summer, no other care occupied his atten- 
tion. Corn-field and melon-garden was this bird 
to this youth ; so much so that his brothers, elder 
and younger, and his male relatives generally, 
looked down upon him as negligent of all manly 
duties, and wasteful of their substance, which he 
helped not to earn in his excessive care of the 
bird. Naturally, therefore, they looked with aver- 

34 




>^ o 



The Youth and his Eagle 35 

sion upon the Eagle ; and one evening, after a 
hard day's work, after oft-repeated remonstrances 
with the youth for not joining in their labors, they 
returned home tired and out of humor, and, climb- 
ing the ladder of the lower terrace, passed the 
great cage on their way into the upper house. 
They stopped a moment before entering, and one 
of the eldest of the party exclaimed : " We have 
remonstrated in vain with the younger brother ; 
we have represented his duties to him in every 
possible light, yet without effect. What remains 
to be done ? What plans can we devise to alienate 
him from this miserable Eagle ? " 

" Why not kill the wretched bird?" asked one 
of them. " That, I should say, would be the most 
simple means of curing him of his infatuation." 

" That is an excellent plan," exclaimed all of the 
brothers as they went on into the house ; " we 
must adopt it." 

The Eagle, apparently so unconscious, heard all 
this, and pondered over it. Presently came the 
youth with meat and other delicate food for his 
beloved bird, and, opening the wicket of the gate, 
placed it within and bade the Eagle eat. But the 
bird looked at him and at the food with no apparent 
interest, and, lowering its head on its breast, sat 
moody and silent. 

"Are you ill, my beloved Eagle?" asked the 
youth, " or why is it that you do not eat ?" 

" I do not care to eat," said the Eagle, speaking 
for the first time. " I am oppressed with much 
anxiety." 



3^ Zufii Folk Tales 

" Do eat, my beloved Eagle," said the youth. 
" Why should you be sad ? Have I neglected 
you r 

" No, indeed, you have not," said the Eagle. 
" For this reason I love you as you love me ; for 
this reason I prize and cherish you as you cherish 
me ; and yet it is for this very reason that I am 
sad. Look you ! Your brothers and relatives have 
often remonstrated with you for your neglect of 
their fields and your care for me. They have often 
been angered with you for not bearing your part in 
the duties of the household. Therefore it is that 
they look with reproach upon you and with aver- 
sion upon me, so much so that they have at last deter- 
mined to destroy me in order to do away with your 
affection for me and to withdraw your attention. 
For this reason I am sad, — not that they can harm 
me, for I need but spread my wings when the wicket 
is opened, and what can they do ? But I would not 
part from you, for I love you. I would not that 
you should part with me, for you love me. There- 
fore am I sad, for I must go tomorrow to my home 
in the skies," said the Eagle, again relapsing into 
moody silence. 

" Oh, my beloved bird ! my own dear Eagle, 
how could I live without you ? How could I re- 
main behind when you went forward, below when 
you went upward ? " exclaimed the youth, already 
beginning to weep. " No ! Go, go, if it need be, 
alas ! but let me go with you," said the youth. 

" My friend ! my poor, poor youth ! " said the 
Eagle, " you cannot go with me. You have not 



The Youth and his Eagle 37 

wings to fly, nor have you knowledge to guide your 
course through the high skies into other worlds 
that you know not of." 

" Let me go with you," cried the youth, falling 
on his knees by the side of the cage. " I will 
comfort you, I will care for you, even as I have 
done here ; but live without you I cannot ! " 

" Ah, my youth," said the Eagle, " I would that 
you could go with me, but the end would not be 
well. You know not how little you love me that 
you wish to do this thing. Think for a moment ! 
The foods that my people eat are not the foods of 
your people ; they are not ripened by fire for our 
consumption, but whatever we capture abroad on 
our measureless hunts we devour as it is, asking no 
fire to render it palatable or wholesome. You 
could not exist thus." 

" My Eagle ! my Eagle ! " cried the youth. " If 
I were to remain behind when you went forward, 
or below when you went upward, food would be as 
nothing to me ; and were it not better that I should 
eat raw food, or no food, than that I should stay 
here, excessively and sadly thinking of you, and 
thus never eat at all, even of the food of my own 
people ? No, let me go with you ! " 

" Once more I implore you, my youth," said the 
Eagle, " not to go with me, for to your own un- 
doing and to my sadness will such a journey be 
undertaken." 

" Let me go, let me go ! Only let me go ! " im- 
plored the youth. 

*' It is said," replied the Eagle calmly. " Even 



38 Zuni Folk Tales 

as you wish, so be it. Now go unto your own 
home for the last time ; gather large quantities of 
sustaining food, as for a long journey. Place this 
food in strong pouches, and make them all into a 
package which you can sling upon your shoulder 
or back. Then come to me tomorrow morning, 
after the people have begun to descend to their 
fields." 

The youth bade good-night to his Eagle and 
went into the house. He took of parched flour a 
great quantity, of dried and pulverized wafer- 
bread a large bag, and of other foods, such as hunt- 
ers carry and on which they sustain themselves 
long, he took a good supply, and made them all 
into a firm package. Then, with high hopes and 
much thought of the morrow, he laid himself to 
rest. He slept late into the morning, and it was 
not until his brothers had departed for their fields 
of corn that he arose ; and, eating a hasty breakfast, 
slung the package of foods over his shoulders and 
descended to the cage of the Eagle. The great 
bird was waiting for him. With a smile in its eyes 
it came forth when he opened the wicket, and, 
settling down on the ground, spread out its wings 
and bade the youth mount. 

" Sit on my back, for it is strong, oh youth ! 
Grasp the base of my wings, and rest your feet 
above my thighs, that you may not fall off. Are 
you ready ? Ah, well. And have you all needful 
things in the way of food ? Good. Let us start 
on our journey." 

Saying this, the Eagle rose slowly, circling wider 



The Youth and his Eagle 39 

and wider as it went up, and higher and higher, un- 
til it had risen far above the town, going slowly. 
Presently it said : " My youth, I will sing a farewell 
song to your people for you and for me, that they 
may know of our final departure." Then, as with 
great sweeps of its wings it circled round and 
round, going higher and higher, it sang this song : 

" Huli-i-i— Huli-i-i— 

Pa shish lakwa-a-a — 
U-u-u-u — 
U-u-u-u-a ! 

Pa shish lakwa-a-a — 

U-u-u-u — 
U-u-u-u-a ! " 

As the song floated down from on high, " Save 
us ! By our eyes ! " exclaimed the people. " The 
Eagle and the youth ! They are escaping ; they 
are leaving us ! " 

And so the word went from mouth to mouth, 
and from ear to ear, until the whole town was 
gazing at the Eagle and the youth, and the song 
died away in the distance, and the Eagle became 
smaller and smaller, winding its way upward until 
it was a mere speck, and finally vanished in the 
very zenith. 

The people shook their heads and resumed their 
work, but the Eagle and the youth went on until 
at last they came to the great opening in the 
zenith of the sky. In passing upward by its end- 
less cliffs they came out on the other side into 
the sky-world ; and still upward soared the Eagle, 



40 Zuni Folk Tales 

until it alighted with its beloved burden on the 
summit of the Mountain of Turquoises, so blue 
that the light shining on it paints the sky blue. 

" Huhua / " said the Eagle, with the weariness 
that comes at the end of a long journey. " We 
have reached our journey's end for a time. Let 
us rest ourselves on this mountain height of my 
beloved world." 

The youth descended and sat by the Eagle's 
side, and the Eagle, raising its wings until the 
tips touched above, lowered its head, and catching 
hold of its crown, shook it from side to side, and 
then drew upon it, and then gradually the eagle- 
coat parted, and while the youth looked and won- 
dered in love and joy, a beautiful maiden was 
uncovered before him, in garments of dazzling 
whiteness, softness, and beauty. No more beauti- 
ful maiden could be conceived than this one, — 
bright of face, clear and clean, with eyes so dark 
and large and deep, and yet sharp, that it was be- 
wildering to look into them. Such eyes have 
never been seen in this world. 

" Come with me, my youth — you who have loved 
me so well," said she, approaching him and reaching 
out her hand. " Let us wander for a while on this 
mountain side and seek the home of my people." 

They descended the mountain and wound round 
its foot until, looking up in the clear light of the 
sky-world, they beheld a city such as no man has 
ever seen. Lofty were its walls, — smooth, gleam- 
ing, clean, and white ; no ladders, no smoke, no 
filth in any part whatsoever. 



The Youth and his Eagle 41 

" Yonder is the home of my people," said the 
maiden, and resuming her eagle-dress she took the 
youth on her back again, and, circling upward, 
hovered for a moment over this home of the 
Eaeles, then, throuo-h one of the wide entrances 
which were in the roof, slowly descended. No lad- 
ders were there, inside or outside ; no need of them 
with a people winged like the Eagles, for a people 
they were, like ourselves — more a people, indeed, 
than we, for in one guise or the other they might 
appear at will. 

No sooner had the Eagle-maiden and the youth 
entered this great building than those who were 
assembled there o-reeted them with welcome assu- 
ranees of joy at their coming. " Sit ye down and 
rest," said they. 

The youth looked around. The great room into 
which they had descended was high and broad and 
long, and lighted from many windows in its roof 
and upon its walls, which were beautifully white 
and clean and finished, as no walls in this world 
are, with many devices pleasing to the eye. Start- 
ing out from these walls were many hooks or pegs, 
suspended from which were the dresses of the Eagles 
who lived there, the forms of which we know. 

" Yea, sit ye down and rest and be happy," said an 
old man. Wonderfully fine he was as he arose 
and approached the couple and said, spreading 
abroad his wings : " Be ye always one to the other 
wife and husband. Shall it be so ? " 

And they both, smiling, said " Yes." And so the 
youth married the Eagle-maiden. 



42 Zuni Folk Tales 

After a few days of rest they found him an eagle- 
coat, fine as the finest, with broad, strong wings, 
and beautiful plumage, and they taught him how 
to comform himself to it and it to himself. And as 
Eagles would teach a young Eagle here in this 
world of ours, so they taught the youth gradually 
to fly. At first they would bid him poise himself 
in his eagle-form on the floor of their great room, 
and, laying all over it soft things, bid him open his 
wings and leap into the air. Anxious to learn, he 
would spread his great wings and with a powerful 
effort send himself high up toward the ceiling ; but 
untaught to sustain himself there, would fall with 
many a flap and tumble to the floor. Again and 
again this was tried, but after a while he learned to 
sustain and guide himself almost wholly round the 
room without once touching anything ; and his 
wife in her eagle-form would fly around him, watch- 
ing and helping, and whenever his flight wavered 
would fan a strong wind up against his wings with 
her own that he might not falter, until he had at 
last learned wholly to support himself in the air. 
Then she bade him one day come out with her to 
the roof of the house, and from there they sailed 
away, away, and away over the great valleys and 
plains below, ever keeping to the northward and 
eastward ; and whenever he faltered in his flight 
she bore his wings up with her own wings, teaching 
him how, this way and that, until, when they returned 
to the roof, those who watched them said : " Now, 
indeed, is he learned in the ways of our people. 
How good it is that this is so !" And they were 



The Youth and his Eagle 43 

very happy, the youth and the Eagle-maiden and 
their people. 

One day the maiden took the youth out again 
into the surrounding country, and as they flew 
along she said to him : " You may wonder that we 
never fly toward the southward. Oh, my youth, 
my husband ! never go yonder, for over that low 
range of mountains is a fearful world, where no 
mortal can venture. If you love me, oh, if you 
truly love me, never venture yonder ! " And he 
listened to her advice and promised that he would 
not go there. Then they went home. 

One day there was a grand hunt, and he was 
invited to join in it. Over the wide world flew 
this band of Eagle hunters to far-away plains. 
Whatsoever they would hunt, behold ! below them 
somewhere. or other might the game be seen, were 
it rabbit, mountain sheep, antelope, or deer, and 
each according to his wish captured the kind of 
game he would, the youth bringing home with 
the rest his quarry. Of all the game they cap- 
tured he could eat none, for in that great house of 
the Eagles, so beautiful, so perfect, no fire ever 
burned, no cooking was ever done. And after 
many days the food which the youth brought with 
him was diminished so that his wife took him out 
to a high mountain one day, and said : " As I have 
told you before, the region beyond those low 
mountains is fearful and deadly ; but yonder in 
the east are other kinds of people than those 
whom you should dread. Not far away is the 
home of the Pelicans and Storks, who, as you 



44 Zuni Folk Tales 

know, eat food that has been cooked, even as your 
people do. When you grow hungry, my husband, 
go to them, and as they are your grandparents 
they will feed you and give you of their abundance 
of food, that you may bring it here, and thus we 
shall do well and be happy." 

The youth assented, and, guided part of the 
way by his faithful, loving wife, he went to the 
home of the Storks. No sooner had he appeared 
than they greeted him with loud assurances of 
welcome and pleasure at his coming, and bade him 
eat. And they set before him bean-bread, bean- 
stews, beans which were baked, as it were, and 
mushes of beans with meat intermixed, which 
seemed as well cooked as the foods of our own 
people here on this mortal earth. And the youth 
ate part of them, and with many thanks returned 
to his home among the Eagles. And thus, as his 
wife had said before, it was all well, and they con- 
tinued to live there happily.^ 

Between the villages of the Eagles and the 
Storks the youth lived ; so that by-and-by the 
Storks became almost as fond of him as were 
the Eagles, addressing him as their beloved grand- 
child. And in consequence of this fondness, his 

• This curious conception of the food of the storks and cranes and peli- 
cans, for of such birds the folk-tale tells, is interesting. It is doubtless an 
attempt to explain what has been observed with relation to the pelicans 
and the storks especially : that they consume their food raw, and, as the 
Indian believes, cook it, as it were, in their own bodies, and then with- 
draw it, either for their young or for their final consumption. As this 
semi-digested food of such birds resembles very nearly the thick bean 
stews of the Zunis, they have evidently taken from it the suggestion for 
the special kinds of food which were offered to the youth. 



The Youth and his Eagle 45 

old grandfather and grandmother among the 
Storks especially called his attention to the fearful 
region lying beyond the range of mountains to the 
south, and they implored him, as his wife had done, 
not to go thither. " For the love of us, do not go 
there, oh, grandchild ! " said they one day, when 
he was about to leave. 

He seemed to agree with them, and spread his 
wings and flew away. But when he had gone a 
long distance, he turned southward, with this ex- 
clamation : " Why should I not see what this is ? 
Who can harm me, floating on these strong wings 
of mine ? Who can harm an Eagle in the sky ? " 
So he flew over the edge of the mountains, and 
behold ! rising up on the plains beyond them was 
a great city, fine and perfect, with walls of stone 
built as are the towns of our dead ancients. And 
the smoke was wreathing forth from its chimneys, 
and in the hazy distance it seemed teeming with 
life at the moment when the youth saw it, which 
was at evening time. 

The inhabitants of that city saw him and sent 
messages forth to the town of the Eagles that they 
would make a grand festival and dance, and 
invited the Eagles to come with their friends to 
witness this dance. And when the youth returned 
to the home of his Eagle people, behold ! already 
had this message been delivered there, and his 
wife in sorrow was awaiting him at the doorway. 

" Alas ! alas ! my youth ! my husband ! " said 
she. " And so, regarding more your own curiosity 
than the love of your wife, you have been into that 



46 Zuni Folk Tales 

fearful country, and as might have been expected, 
you were observed. We are now invited to visit 
the city you saw and to witness a dance of the in- 
habitants thereof, which invitation we cannot re- 
fuse, and you must go with us. It remains to be 
seen, oh my youth, whom I trusted, if your love for 
me be so great that you may stand the test of this 
which you have brought upon yourself, by heed- 
lessness of my advice and that of your grand- 
parents, the Storks. Oh, my husband, I despair of 
you, and thus despairing, I implore you to heed me 
once more, and all may be well with you even yet. 
Go with us tonight to the city you saw, the most 
fearful of all cities, for it is the city of the damned, 
and wonderful things you will see ; but do not 
laugh or even smile once. I will sit by your side 
and look at you. Oh, think of me as I do of you, 
and thus thinking you will not smile. If you truly 
love me, and would remain with me always, and 
be happy as I would be happy, do this one thing 
for me." 

The youth promised over and over, and when 
night came he went with the Eagle people to that 
city. A beautiful place it was, large and fine, with 
high walls of stone and many a little window out 
of which the red firelio-ht was shining-. The smoke 
was going up from its chimneys, the sparks winding 
up through it, and, with beacon fires burning on the 
roofs, it was a happy, bustling scene that met the 
gaze of the youth as he approached the town. 
There were sounds and cries of life everywhere. 
Lights shone and merriment echoed from every 



The Youth and his Eagle 47 

street and room, and they were ushered into a 
great dance hall, or kiwitsin, where the audience 
was already assembled. 

By-and-by the sounds of the coming dance were 
heard, and all was expectation. The fires blazed up 
and the lights shone all round the room, making it 
as bright as day. In came the dancers, maidens 
mostly, beautiful, and clad in the richest of ancient 
garments ; their eyes were bright, their hair black 
and soft, their faces gleaming with merriment and 
pleasure. And they came joking down the ladders 
into the room before the place where the youth sat, 
and as they danced down the middle of the floor 
they cried out in shrill, yet not unpleasant voices, 
as they jostled each other, playing grotesque 
pranks and assuming the most laughter-stirring 
attitudes : 

" Hapa ! hapa / is / is ! is / " (" Dead ! dead ! 
this ! this ! this ! ") — pointing at one another, and 
repeating this baleful expression, although so beau- 
tiful, and full of life and joy and merriment. 

Now, the youth looked at them all through this 
long dance, and though he thought it strange that 
they should exclaim thus one to another, so lively 
and pretty and jolly they were, he was nevertheless 
filled with amusement at their strange antics and 
wordless jokes. Still he never smiled. 

Then they filed in again and there were more 
dancers, merrier than before, and among them were 
two or three girls of surpassing beauty even in that 
throng of lovely women, and one of them looked in 
a coquettish manner constantly toward the youth. 



48 Zuni Folk Tales 

directing: all her smiles and merriment to him as 
she pointed round to her companions, exclaiming : 
''Hapa ! hapa I is ! is ! is ! " 

The youth grew forgetful of everything else as 
he leaned forward, absorbed in watching this girl 
with her bright eyes and merry smiles. When, 
finally, in a more amusing manner than before, she 
jostled some merry dancer, he laughed outright 
and the girl ran forward toward him, with two 
others following, and reaching out, grasped his 
hands and dragged him into the dance. The Eagle- 
maiden lifted her wings and with a cry of woe flew 
away with her people. But ah, ah ! the youth 
minded nothing, he was so wild with merriment, like 
the beautiful maidens by his side, and up and down 
the great lighted hall he danced with them, joining 
in their uncouth postures and their exclamations, of 
which he did not yet understand the true meaning — 
''Hapa ! hapa ! is / is ! is ! " 

By-and-by the fire began to burn low, and the 
maidens said to him : " Come and pass the night 
with us all here. Why go back to your home ? Are 
we not merry companions? Ha! ha! ha! ha! 
Hapa / hapa ! is / is ! is ! " They began to laugh 
and jostle one another again. Thus they led the 
youth, not unwillingly on his part, away into a 
far-off room, large and fine like the others, and 
there on soft blankets he lay himself down, and 
these maidens gathered round him, one pillowing 
his head on her arm, another smiling down into his 
face, another sitting by his side, and soon he fell 
asleep. All became silent, and the youth slept on. 



The Youth and his Eagle 49 

In the morning, when broad dayHght had come, 
the youth opened his eyes and started. It seemed 
as though there were more Hght than there should 
be in the house. He looked up, and the room 
which had been so fine and finished the nieht be- 
fore was tottering over his head ; the winds shrieked 
through great crevices in the walls ; the windows 
were broken and wide open ; sand sifted through on 
the wind and eddied down into the old, barren room. 
The rafters, dried and warped with age, were bend- 
ing and breaking, and pieces of the roof fell now and 
then when the wind blew more strongly. He raised 
himself, and clammy bones fell from around him ; 
and when he cast his eyes about him, there on the 
floor were strewn bones and skulls. Here and 
there a face half buried in the sand, with eyes 
sunken and dried and patches of skin clinging to 
it, seemed to glare at him. Fingers and feet, as of 
mummies, were strewn about, and it was as if the 
youth had entered a great cemetery, where the re- 
mains of the dead of all ages were littered about. 
He lifted himself still farther, and where the head 
of one maiden had lain or the arms of another had 
entwined with his, bones were clingfine to him. 
One by one he picked them off stealthily and laid 
them down, until at last he freed himself, and, ris- 
ing, cautiously stepped between the bones which 
were lying around, making no noise until he came 
to the broken-down doorway of the place. There, 
as he passed out, his foot tripped against a splinter 
of bone which was embedded in the debris of the 
ruin, and as a sliver sings in the wind, so this sang 



50 Zuni Folk Tales 

out. The youth, startled and terrorized, sprang 
forth and ran for his life in the direction of the 
home of the Storks. Shrieking, howling, and 
singing like a slivered stick in the wind, like creak- 
ing boughs in the forest, with groans and howls 
and whistlings that seemed to freeze the youth as 
he ran, these bones and fragments of the dead 
arose and, like a flock of vampires, pursued him 
noisily. 

He ran and ran, and the great cloud of the dead 
were coming nearer and nearer and pressing round 
him, when he beheld one of his grandparents, a 
Badger, near its hole. The Badger, followed by 
others, was fast approaching him, having heard this 
fearful clamor, and cried out : " Our grandson ! 
Let 's save him ! " So they ran forward and, catch- 
ing him up, cast him down into one of their 
holes. Then, turning toward the uncanny crowd and 
bristling up, with sudden emotion and mighty effort 
they cast off that odor by which, as you know, they 
may defile the very winds. Thlitchiii ! it met 
the crowd of ghosts. Thliwooo ! the whole host 
of them turned with wails and howls and gnashings 
of teeth back toward the City of the Dead, whence 
they had come. And the Badgers ran into the 
hole where lay the youth, lifted him up, and 
scolded him most vigorously for his folly. 

Then they said : " Sit up, you fool, for you are 
not yet saved ! Hurry ! " said they, one to another. 
" Heat water ! " And, the water being heated, nau- 
seating herbs and other medicines were mingled 
with it, and the youth was directed to drink of that. 



The Youth and his Eagle 51 

He drank, not once, but four times. Ukch, usa / 
— and after he had been thus treated the old Badgers 
asked him if he feh reheved or well, and the youth 
said he was very well compared with what he had 
been. 

Then they stood him up in their midst and said 
to him : " You fool and faithless lout, why did 
you go and become enamored of Death, however 
beautiful ? It is only a wonder that with all our 
skill and power we have saved you thus far. It 
will be a still greater wonder, O foolish one, if she 
who loved you still loves you enough after this 
faithlessness to save the life which you have for- 
feited. Who would dance and take joy in Death ? 
Go now to the home of your grandparents, the 
Storks, and there live. Your plumage gone, your 
love given up, what remains ? You can neither de- 
scend to your own people below without wings, 
nor can you live with the people of the Eagles 
without love. Go, therefore, to your grandparents ! " 

And the youth got up and dragged himself away 
to the home of the Storks ; but when he arrived 
there they looked at him with downcast faces and 
reproached him over and over, saying : " There is 
small possibility of your regaining what you have 
forfeited, — the love and affection of your wife." 

" But I will go to her and plead with her," said 
the youth. " How should I know what I was 
doing?" 

" We told you not to do it, and you heeded not 
our tellinof," 

So the youth lagged away to the home of the 



52 Zuni Folk Tales 

Eagles, where, outside that great house with high 
walls, he lingered, moping and moaning. The 
Eagles came and went, or they gathered and talked 
on the housetop, but no word of greeting did they 
offer him ; and his wife, at last, with a shiver of 
disgust, appeared above him and said : " Go back ! 
go back to your grandparents. Their love you 
may not have forfeited ; mine you have. Go back ! 
for we never can receive you again amongst us. 
Oh, folly and faithlessness, in you they have an 
example ! " 

So the youth sadly returned to the home of the 
Storks. There he lingered, returning ever and 
anon to the. home of the Eagles ; but it was as 
though he were not there, until at last the elder 
Eagles, during one of his absences, implored the 
Eagle-maid to take the youth back to his own 
home. 

"Would you ask me, his wife, who loved him, 
now to touch him who has been polluted by being 
enamored of Death ? " asked she. 

But they implored, and she acquiesced. So, 
when the youth appeared again at the home of the 
Eagles, she had found an old, old Eagle dress, many 
of the feathers in it broken ; ragged and disrepu- 
table it was, and the wing-feathers were so thin 
that the wind whistled through them. Descending 
with this, she bade him put it on, and when he had 
done so, she said : " Come with me now, according 
to the knowledge in which we have instructed 
you." 

And they flew away to the summit of that blue 



The Youth and his Eagle 



53 



mountain, and, after resting there, they began 
to descend into the sky which we see, and from 
that downward and downward in very narrow 
circles. 

Whenever the youth, with his worn-out wings, 
faltered, the wife bore him up, until, growing weary 
in a moment of remembrance of his faithlessness, 
she caugrht in her talons the EaMe dress which sus- 
tained him and drew it off, bade him farewell for- 
ever, and sailed away out of sight in the sky. And 
the youth, with one gasp and shriek, tumbled over 
and over and over, fell into the very center of the 
town in which he had lived when he loved his 
Eagle, and utterly perished. 



Thus it was in the times of the ancients ; and for 
this reason by no means whatsoever may a mortal 
man, by any alliances under the sun, avoid Death. 
But if one would live as long as possible, one 
should never, in any manner whatsoever, remem- 
bering this youth's experience, become enamored 
of Death. 

Thus shortens my story. 



THE POOR TURKEY GIRL 

LONG, long ago, our ancients had neither sheep 
nor horses nor cattle ; yet they had domestic 
animals of various kinds — amongst them Turkeys. 

In Matsaki, or the Salt City, there dwelt at this 
time many very wealthy families, who possessed 
large flocks of these birds, which it was their cus- 
tom to have their slaves or the poor people of the 
town herd in the plains round about Thunder 
Mountain, below which their town stood, and on 
the mesas beyond. 

Now, in Matsaki at this time there stood, away 
out near the border of the town, a little tumble- 
down, single-room house, wherein there lived alone 
a very poor girl, — so poor that her clothes were 
patched and tattered and dirty, and her person, on 
account of long neglect and ill-fare, shameful to 
look upon, though she herself was not ugly, but had 
a winning face and bright eyes ; that is, if the face 
had been more oval and the eyes less oppressed 
with care. So poor was she that she herded Tur- 
keys for a living ; and little was given to her ex- 
cept the food she subsisted on from day to day, and 
perhaps now and then a piece of old, worn-out 
clothing. 

Like the extremely poor everywhere and at all 
times, she was humble, and by her longing for kind- 
ness, which she never received, she was made 
kind even to the creatures that depended upon her, 

54 



The Poor Turkey Girl 55 

and lavished this kindness upon the Turkeys she 
drove to and from the plains every day. Thus, 
the Turkeys, appreciating this, were very obedient. 
They loved their mistress so much that at her call 
they would unhesitatingly come, or at her behest go 
whithersoever and whensoever she wished. -^ 

One day this poor girl, driving her Turkeys down 
into the plains, passed near Old Zufii, — the Middle 
Ant Hill of the World, as our ancients have taught 
us to call our home, — and as she went along, 
she heard the herald-priest proclaiming from the 
house-top that the Dance of the Sacred Bird 
(which is a very blessed and welcome festival to 
our people, especially to the youths and maidens 
who are permitted to join in the dance) would take 
place in four days. 

Now, this poor girl had never been permitted to 
join in or even to watch the great festivities of our 
people or the people in the neighboring towns, and 
naturally she longed very much to see this dance. 
But she put aside her longing, because she re- 
flected : "It is impossible that I should watch, much 
less join in the Dance of the Sacred Bird, ugly and 
ill-clad as I am." And thus musing to herself, and 
talking to her Turkeys, as was her custom, she drove 
them on, and at night returned them to their cages 
round the edges and in the plazas of the town. 

Every day after that, until the day named for 
the dance, this poor girl, as she drove her Turkeys 
out in the morning, saw the people busy in cleaning 
and preparing their garments, cooking delicacies, 
and otherwise making ready for the festival to 



56 Zuni Folk Tales 

which they had been duly invited by the other vil- 
lagers, and heard them talking and laughing mer- 
rily at the prospect of the coming holiday. So, as 
she went about with her Turkeys through the day, 
she would talk to them, though she never dreamed 
that they understood a word of what she was 
saying. 

It seems that they did understand even more 
than she said to them, for on the fourth day, after 
the people of Matsaki had all departed toward 
Zuni and the girl was wandering around the 
plains alone with her Turkeys, one of the big Gob- 
blers strutted up to her, and making a fan of his 
tail, and skirts, as it were, of his wings, blushed with 
pride and puffed with importance, stretched out 
his neck and said : " Maiden mother, we know 
what your thoughts are, and truly we pity you, and 
wish that, like the other people of Matsaki, you 
might enjoy this holiday in the town below. We 
have said to ourselves at night, after you have 
placed us safely and comfortably in our cages : 
' Truly our maiden mother is as worthy to enjoy 
these things as any one in Matsaki, or even Zuni.' 
Now, listen well, for I speak the speech of all the 
elders of my people : If you will drive us in early 
this afternoon, when the dance is most gay and 
the people are most happy, we will help you to 
make yourself so handsome and so prettily dressed 
that never a man, woman, or child amongst all 
those who are assembled at the dance will know 
you ; but rather, especially the young men, will 
wonder whence you came, and long to lay hold of 



The Poor Turkey Girl 57 

your hand in the circle that forms round the altar 
to dance. Maiden mother, would you like to go 
to see this dance, and even to join in it, and 
be merry with the best of your people ?" 

The poor girl was at first surprised. Then it 
seemed all so natural that the Turkeys should talk 
to her as she did to them, that she sat down on a 
little mound, and, leaning over, looked at them and 
said : " My beloved Turkeys, how glad I am that we 
may speak together ! But why should you tell me 
of things that you full well know I so long to, but 
cannot by any possible means, do ? " 

" Trust in us," said the old Gobbler, " for I speak 
the speech of my people, and when we begin to call 
and call and gobble and gobble, and turn toward 
our home in Matsaki, do you follow us, and we will 
show you what we can do for you. Only let me 
tell you one thing : No one knows how much hap- 
piness and good fortune may come to you if you 
but enjoy temperately the pleasures we enable you 
to participate in. But if, in the excess of your en- 
joyment, you should forget us, who are your friends, 
yet so much depend upon you, then we will think : 
' Behold, this our maiden mother, though so hum- 
ble and poor, deserves, forsooth, her hard life, 
because, were she more prosperous, she would be 
unto others as others now are unto her.' " 

" Never fear, O my Turkeys," cried the maiden, 
— only half trusting that they could do so much for 
her, yet longing to try, — "never fear. In every- 
thing you direct me to do I will be obedient as you 
always have been to me." 



58 Zuni Folk Tales 

The sun had scarce begun to decline, when the 
Turkeys of their own accord turned homeward, and 
the maiden followed them, light of heart. They 
knew their places well, and immediately ran to 
them. When all had entered, even their bare- 
leeeed children, the old Gobbler called to the maiden, 
saying : " Enter our house." She therefore went 
in. " Now, maiden, sit down," said he, " and give 
to me and my companions, one by one, your articles 
of clothing. We will see if we cannot renew them." 

The maiden obediently drew off the ragged old 
mantle that covered her shoulders and cast it on 
the ground before the speaker. He seized it in his 
beak, and spread it out, and picked and picked at 
it ; then he trod upon it, and lowering his wings, 
began to strut back and forth over it. Then tak- 
ing it up in his beak, and continuing to strut, he 
puffed and puffed, and laid it down at the feet 
of the maiden, a beautiful white embroidered cot- 
ton mantle. Then another Gobbler came forth, 
and she gave him another article of dress, and then 
another and another, until each garment the maiden 
had worn was new and as beautiful as any pos- 
sessed by her mistresses in Matsaki. 

Before the maiden donned all these garments, 
the Turkeys circled about her, singing and singing, 
and clucking and clucking, and brushing her with 
their wings, until her person was as clean and her 
skin as smooth and bright as that of the fairest 
maiden of the wealthiest home in Matsaki. Her 
hair was soft and wavy, instead of being an ugly, 
sun-burnt shock ; her cheeks were full and dimpled, 



The Poor Turkey Girl 59 

and her eyes dancing with smiles, — for she now 
saw how true had been the words of the Turkeys. 

Finally, one old Turkey came forward and said : 
" Only the rich ornaments worn by those who have 
many possessions are lacking to thee, O maiden 
mother. Wait a moment. We have keen eyes, 
and have gathered many valuable things, — as such 
things, being small, though precious, are apt to be 
lost from time to time by men and maidens." 

Spreading his wings, he trod round and round 
upon the ground, throwing his head back, and lay- 
ing his wattled beard on his neck ; and, presently 
beginning to cough, he produced in his beak a 
beautiful necklace ; another Turkey brought forth 
earrings, and so on, until all the proper ornaments 
appeared, befitting a well-clad maiden of the olden 
days, and were laid at the feet of the poor Turkey 
girl. 

With these beautiful things she decorated herself, 
and, thanking the Turkeys over and over, she 
started to go, and they called out : " O maiden 
mother, leave open the wicket, for who knows 
whether you will remember your Turkeys or not 
when your fortunes are changed, and if you will 
not grow ashamed that you have been the maiden 
mother of Turkeys ? But we love you, and would 
bring you to good fortune. Therefore, remember 
our words of advice, and do not tarry too long." 

'T will surely remember, O my Turkeys!" an- 
swered the maiden. 

Hastily she sped away down the river path to- 
ward Zuni. When she arrived there, she went in 



6o Zuni Folk Tales 

at the western side of the town and through one 
of the long covered ways that lead into the dance 
court. When she came just inside of the court, 
behold, every one began to look at her, and many 
murmurs ran through the crowd, — murmurs of 
astonishment at her beauty and the richness of her 
dress, — and the people were all asking one another, 
" Whence comes this beautiful maiden ? " 

Not \oncr did she stand there neo-lected. The 
chiefs of the dance, all gorgeous in their holiday at- 
tire, hastily came to her, and, with apologies for 
the incompleteness of their arrangements, — though 
these arrangements were as complete as they 
possibly could be, — invited her to join the youths 
and maidens dancino- round the musicians and the 
altar in the center of the plaza. 

With a blush and a smile and a toss of her hair 
over her eyes, the maiden stepped into the circle, 
and the finest youths among the dancers vied with 
one another for her hand. Her heart became 
light and her feet merry, and the music sped her 
breath to rapid coming and going, and the warmth 
swept over her face, and she danced and danced 
until the sun sank low in the west. 

But, alas ! in the excess of her enjoyment, she 
thought not of her Turkeys, or, if she thought of 
them, she said to herself, " How is this, that I 
should go away from the most precious considera- 
tion to my flock of gobbling Turkeys ? I will stay 
a while longer, and just before the sun sets I will 
run back to them, that these people may not see 
who I am, and that I may have the joy of hearing 



The Poor Turkey Girl 6i 

them talk day after day and wonder who the girl 
was who joined in their dance." 

So the time sped on, and another dance was 
called, and another, and never a moment did the 
people let her rest ; but they would have her in 
every dance as they moved around the musicians 
and the altar in the center of the plaza. 

At last the sun set, and the dance was well-nigh 
over, when, suddenly breaking away, the girl ran 
out, and, being swift of foot, — more so than most 
of the people of her village, — she sped up the 
river path before any one could follow the course 
she had taken. 

Meantime, as it grew late, the Turkeys began to 
wonder and wonder that their maiden mother did 
not return to them. At last a gray old Gobbler 
mournfully exclaimed, " It is as we might have ex- 
pected. She has forgotten us ; therefore is she 
not worthy of better things than those she has 
been accustomed to. Let us go forth to the 
mountains and endure no more of this irksome 
captivity, inasmuch as we may no longer think our 
maiden mother as good and true as once we 
thought her." 

So, calling and calling to one another in loud 
voices, they trooped out of their cage and ran up 
toward the Canon of the Cottonwoods, and then 
round behind Thunder Mountain, through the 
Gateway of Zuni, and so on up the valley. 

All breathless, the maiden arrived at the open 
wicket and looked in. Behold, not a Turkey was 
there ! Trailing them, she ran and she ran up the 



62 Zuni Folk Tales 

valley to overtake them ; but they were far ahead, 
and it was only after a long time that she came 
within the sound of their voices, and then, re- 
doubling her speed, well-nigh overtook them, when 
she heard them singing this song : 

" K yaanaa, to I to / 
K yaafiaa, to ! to ! 

Ye ye ! 
K 'yaanaa, to ! to ! 
K''yaanaa, to! to f 
Yee hull hull ! 

" Hon aw en Tsita 
Itiwanakwin 

Otakyaan aaa kyaa j 
Lesna akyaaa 
Shoya-k^oskwi 
Teydthltokwin 

Hon aawani! 

*' Ye yee hull hull. 
Tot-tot, tot-tot, tot-tot, 

Hull hull ! 
Tot-tot, tot-tot, tot-tot, 
Hull huli!"^ 

" Up the river, to ! to ! 
Up the river, to ! to ! 

Sing ye ye ! 
Up the river, to ! to! 
Up the river, to ! to ! 

Sing yee huli hull ! 

*' Oh, our maiden mother 
To the Middle Place 

To dance went away ; 

* This, like all the folk-songs, is difficult of translation ; and that which is 
given is only approximate. 



The Poor Turkey Girl 63 

Therefore as she lingers, 
To the Canon Mesa 
And the plains above it 
We all run away ! 

" Sing ye yee hull hull, 
Tot- tot, tot- tot, tot-tot, 

Hull hull ! 
Tot-tot, tot-tot, tot-tot, 

Huli hull ! " 

Hearing this, the maiden called to her Turkeys ; 
called and called in vain. They only quickened 
their steps, spreading their wings to help them 
along, singing the song over and over until, 
indeed, they came to the base of the Canon Mesa, 
at the borders of the Zufii Mountains. Then 
singing once more their song in full chorus, they 
spread wide their wings, and thlakwa-a-a, thlakwa- 
a-a, they fluttered away over the plains above. 

The poor Turkey girl threw her hands up and 
looked down at her dress. With dust and sweat, 
behold ! it was changed to what it had been, and 
she was the same poor Turkey girl that she was be- 
fore. Weary, grieving, and despairing, she re- 
turned to Matsaki. 

Thus it was in the days of the ancients. There- 
fore, where you see the rocks leading up to the 
top of Canon Mesa (Shoya-k'oskwi), there are the 
tracks of turkeys and other figures to be seen. 
The latter are the song that the Turkeys sang, 
graven in the rocks ; and all over the plains along 
the borders of Zufii Mountains since that day turkeys 
have been more abundant than in any other place. 



64 



Zuni Folk Tales 



After all, the gods dispose of men according as 
men are fitted ; and if the poor be poor in heart 
and spirit as well as in appearance, how will they 
be aught but poor to the end of their days ? 

Thus shortens my story. 




HOW THE SUMMER BIRDS CAME 

IN the days of the ancients, in the town under 
^ Thunder Mountain called K'iakime, there lived 
a most beautiful maiden. But one thino- which 
struck the people who knew her was that she 
seldom came forth from her room, or went out 
of her house ; never seemed to care for the people 
around her, never seemed to care to see the young 
men when they were dancing-. 

Now, this was the way of it. Through the roof 
of her room was a little skylight, open, and when 
it rained, one of the Gods of the Rain descended in 
the rain-drops and wooed this maiden, and married 
her all unknown to her people ; so that she was in 
his company every time it rained, and when the 
dew fell at night, on his ladder of water descend- 
ing he came, and she was very happy, and cared 
not for the society of men. By-and-by, behold! 
to the utter surprise of the people, whose eyes 
could not see this god, her husband, there was a 
little boy born to her. 

Now, he was the child of the gods, and, there- 
fore, before he was many days old, he had begun to 
run about and speak, and had wonderful intelli- 
gence and wonderful strength and vivacity. He 
was only a month or two old when he was like 
a child of five or six or eight years of age, and he 
would climb to the house-top and run down into 
the plaza and out around the village hunting birds 

65 



66 Zuni Folk Tales 

or other small animals. With only his fingers and 
little stones for weapons, he never failed to slay 
and bring home these little creatures, and his 
mother's house was supplied more than any other 
house in the town with plumes for sacrifice, from 
the birds which he captured in this way. 

Finally he observed that the older men of the 
tribe carried bows and arrows, and that the arrows 
went more swiftly and straighter than the stones 
he threw ; and though he never failed to kill small 
animals, he found he could not kill the larger ones 
in that way. So he said to his mother one night : 
" Oh, mother, where does the wood grow that they 
make bows of, and where do they get sticks for 
their arrows? I wish you would tell me." 

But the mother was quite silent ; she did n't like 
to tell him, for she thought it would lead him away 
from the town and something would happen to 
him. But he kept questioning her until at last, 
weary with his importunities, she said : " Well, my 
little boy, if you go round the cliff here to the 
eastern side, there is a great hollow in the rocks, 
and down at the bottom of that hollow is a great 
cave. Now, around that shelter in the rocks are 
growing the trees out of which bows are made, and 
there also grow the bushes from which arrows are 
cut ; they are so plentiful that they could supply 
the whole town, and furnish all the hunters here 
with bows and arrows ; but they cannot get them, 
because in the cave lives a great Bear, a very sav- 
age being, and no one dares go near there to get 
timber for the bows or sticks for the arrows, be- 



How the Summer Birds Came 67 

cause the Bear would surely devour whoever ven- 
tured there. He has devoured many of our people ; 
therefore you must not go there to get these 
arrows." 

" No, indeed," said the boy. But at night he lay 
down with much in his mind, and was so thought- 
ful that he hardly slept the whole night. He was 
planning what he would do in the morning. 

The next morning his mother was busy about 
her work, and finally she went down to the spring 
for some water, and the little boy slipped out of 
the house, ran down the ladder, went to the river- 
side, stooped down, and crawled along the bank of 
the river, until he could get around on the side of 
the cliff where the little valley of the spring that 
flows under Thunder Mountain lies. There he 
climbed up and up until he came to the shelter 
in the rocks round on the eastern side of Thunder 
Mountain. The mouth of this hollow was entirely 
closed with fine yellow-wood and oak, the best 
timber we have for bows, and straight sprouts 
were growing everywhere out of which arrows 
could be made. 

" Ah, this must be the place," said the boy, 
as he looked at it. " I don't see any Bear. I 
think I will climb up and see if there is anything 
to be afraid of, and try if I can cut a stick before 
the Bear comes out." 

He started and climbed into the mouth of the 
cavern, and his father, one of the Gods of the 
Rain, threw a tremendous shaft of lightning, and it 
thundered, and the cave closed together. 



68 Zuni Folk Tales 

"Ha!" cried the boy. "What in the world is 
the meaning of this?" Then he stood there a 
moment, and presently the clouds finished and the 
cave opened, and all was quiet. He started to go 
in once more, and down came the lightning again, 
to remind him that he should not go in there. 

" Ha ! " cried the boy again. " What in the 
world does it mean ? " And he rubbed his eyes, — 
it had rather stunned him, — and so soon as it had 
cleared away he tried again, and again for the 
fourth time. 

Finally the god said, " Ah ! I have reminded 
him and he does not heed. He must go his own 
way." So the boy climbed into the cave. 

No sooner had he got in than it began to get 
dark, and Wah ! came the Bear on his hind legs 
and grabbed the boy and began to squeeze him 
very tight. 

" O my ! O my ! " cried he. " Don't squeeze 
me so hard ! It hurts ; don't squeeze me so hard ! 
My mother is one of the most beautiful women 
you ever saw ! " 

" Hollo ! " exclaimed the Bear. " What is that 
you say ? " 

" My mother is one of the most beautiful women 
you ever saw ! " 

" Indeed !" said the Bear, as he relaxed his hold. 
" My son, sit down. What did you come to my 
house for? I am sure you are very welcome." 

" Why," said the boy, " I came to get a piece 
of wood for a bow and sticks for arrows." 

Said the Bear, " I have looked out for this tim- 



How the Summer Birds Came 69 

ber for a long time. There is none better in the 
whole country. Let me tell you what I will do. 
You don't look very strong. You have n't any- 
thing to cut the trees down with. I will go myself 
and cut down a tree for you. I will pick out a 
good one for a bow ; not only that, but I will get 
fine sticks for arrows, too." 

So he stalked off into the forest, and crack, 
crack, he smashed the trees down, and, picking 
out a good one, gnawed off the ends of it and 
brought it to the boy, then gathered a lot of fine 
straight sticks for arrow-shafts and brought them. 

"There," said he, "take those home. Do you 
know how to make a bow, my son ? " 
" No, I don't very well," replied he. 
" Well," said the Bear, " I have cut off the ends ; 
make it about that length. Now take it home, and 
shave down the inside until it is thin enough to bend 
quickly at both ends, and lay it over the coals of 
fire so it will get hard and dry. That is the way to 
make a good bow." 

" All right," said the boy ; and as he took up the 
bundle of sticks and the stave for the bow, he said : 
" Just come along toward night and I will introduce 
you to my mother." 

" All right," said the old Bear ; " I will be along 
just about sunset. Then I can look at your bow 
and see whether you have made it well or not." 

So the boy trudged home with his bundle of sticks 
and his bow stave, and when he arrived there his 
mother happened to be climbing out, and saw him 
coming. 



70 Zuni Folk Tales 

"You wretched boy," she said, "I told you not 
to go out to the cave ! I warrant you have been 
there where the Bear stays ! " 

" Oh, yes, my mother ; just see what I have 
brought," said the boy. " I sold you to the Bear. 
He will be here to get you this evening. See what 
I have brought ! " and he laid out his bow-timber 
and arrow-shafts. 

"Oh," said she, "you are the most wretched and 
foolish of little boys ; you pay no attention to what 
any one says to you ; your mother's word is nothing 
but wind in your ears." 

"Just see what I have brought home," said he. 
He worked as hard as he could to make his bow, 
stripped the arrow-shafts, smoothed and straight- 
ened them before the fire, and made the points of 
obsidian — very black it is ; very hard and sharp 
were the points when he placed them on the arrows. 
Now, after placing the feathers on the arrows, he 
stood them up on the roof of the house against the 
parapet in the sunlight to dry ; and he had his bow 
on the other side of the house against the other 
parapet to dry. He was still at work, toward sun- 
set, when he happened to look up and saw the Bear 
coming along, slowly, comfortably, rolling over the 
sand. 

" Ah ! " said he, " the old man is coming." He 
paid no attention to him, however. 

Presently the Bear came close to the ladder, and 
shook it to see if it was strong enough to hold 
him. 

" Thou comest ? " asked the boy. 



How the Summer Birds Came 71 

"Yes," said the Bear. " How have you been all 
day ? " 

" Happy," said the boy. 

" How is your mother?" 

" Happy," said the boy, " expecting you." 

So the old Bear climbed up. " Ah, indeed," said 
he, as he got over the edge of the house, " have 
you made the bow ? " 

" Yes, after a fashion." 

So the Bear went over, raised himself on his hind 
feet, looked at the bow, pulled it, and said, as he 
laid it down : " It is a splendid bow. What is this 
black stuff on these arrows ? " 

" Obsidian," answered the boy. 

"These points are nothing but black coals," said 
the Bear. 

" I tell you," said the boy, " they are good, black, 
flint arrow-heads, hard and sharp as any others." 

" No," said the other, " nothing but coals." 

" Now, suppose you let me try one of those coals 
on you," said the boy. 

" All right," said the Bear. He walked over to 
the other side of the roof and stood there, and the 
boy took one of the arrows, fitted it to the bow, and 
let go. It went straight into the heart of the Bear, 
and even passed through him entirely. 

" Wah ! " uttered the Bear, as he gave a great snort 
and rolled over on the house-top and died. 

" Ha, ha!" shouted the boy, "what you had in- 
tended to do unto me, thus unto you ! Oh, mother ! " 
called he, as he ran to the sky-hole, " here is your 
husband ; come and see him. I have killed him ; 



72 Zuni Folk Tales 

but, then, he would have me make the experiment," 
said the boy. 

" Oh, you foolish, foolish, disobedient boy ! " said 
the mother. "What have you been doing now? 
Are we safe ? " 

" Oh, yes," said he ; " my step-father is as passive 
as if he were asleep." And he went on and skinned 
his once prospective step-father, and then took out 
his heart and hung it to the cross-piece of the ladder 
as a sign that the people could go and get all the 
bow-timber and arrows they pleased. 

That night, after the evening meal was over, the 
boy sat down with his mother, and he said : " By 
the way, mother, are there any monsters or fearful 
creatures anywhere round about this country that 
kill people and make trouble ? " 

" No," said the mother, " none whatever." 

" I don't know about that ; I think there must 
be," said the boy. 

" No, there are none whatever, I tell you," an- 
swered the mother. 

The boy began to tumble on the floor, rolling 
about, playing with his mother's blankets, and 
throwing things around, and once in a while he 
would ask her again the same question, until finally 
she got very cross with him and said : " Yes, if you 
want to know, down there in the valley, beyond 
the great plains of sagebrush, is a den of Misho 
Lizards who are fearful and deadly to every one who 
goes near them. Therefore you had better be 
careful how you run round the valley." 

*' What makes them so fearful ? " asked he. 



How the Summer Birds Came ^i 

"Well," said she, "they are venomous; they 
have a way of throwing from their mouths or 
breath a sort of fluid which, whenever it strikes a 
person, burns him, and whenever it strikes the eyes 
it blinds them. A great many people have per- 
ished there. Whenever a man arrives at their den 
they are very polite and greet him most courteously ; 
they say : ' Come in ; sit down right here in the 
middle of the floor before the fire.' But as soon 
as the person is seated in their house they gather 
round the walls and throw this venom on him, and 
he dies almost immediately." 

" Is it possible ? " responded the little boy ; and 
for some reason or other he began to grow sleepy, 
and said : " Now, let us go to sleep, mother." 

So he lay down and slept. Just as soon as it 
was light the next morning he aroused himself, 
dressed, took his bow and arrows, and, placing 
them in a corner near the ladder, said : " Oh, 
mother, give me my breakfast ; I want to go and 
shoot some little birds. I would like to have some 
roasted birds for dinner." 

She gave him his breakfast as quickly as she 
could, and he ran down the ladder and went to 
shooting at the birds, until he happened to see that 
his mother and others were out of siofht ; then he 
skulked into the sagebrush and went as straight as 
he could for the den of the Misho Lizards. There 
happened to be two young ones sunning themselves 
outside, and they said : 

" Ah, my fine little fellow, glad to see you this 
morning. Come in, come in ; the old ones will 



74 Zuni Folk Tales 

be very much pleased to entertain you. Come 
in!" 

" Thank you," said the boy. He walked in, but 
he felt under his coat to see if a huge lump of rock 
salt he had was still there. • 

" Sit right down here," said the old people. The 
whole den was filled with these Misho Lizards, and 
they were excessively polite, every one of them. 

The boy sat down, and the old Misho said to the 
young ones : " Hurry up, now ; be quick ! " And 
they began to throw their venom at him, and con- 
tinued until he was all covered with it ; but, know- 
ing beforehand, and being the child of the gods, he 
was prepared and protected, and it did him no 
harm. 

" Thank you, thank you," said the boy. " I will 
do the same thing. Then he pulled out the salt 
and pushed it down into the fire, where it exploded 
and entirely used up the whole council of Misho 
Lizards. 

" There ! " cried the boy, " Thus would you have 
done unto me, thus unto you." 

He took two fine ones and cut out their hearts, 
then started for home. When he arrived there, he 
climbed the ladder and suspended the two hearts 
beside that of the Bear and went down into the 
house, saying, " Well, mother, is dinner ready ? " 

"There now," said she, " I know it. I saw you 
hang those hearts up. You have been down there." 

"Yes," said he, "they are all gone — every soli- 
tary one of them." 

" Oh, you foolish, foolish, disobedient fellow ! I 



How the Summer Birds Came 75 

am all alone in the world, and if you should go to 
some of those fearful places some time and not 
come back, who would hunt for me ? What should 
I do ? " said the mother. 

" Don't be troubled, mother, now," said the boy. 
" I don't think I will go any more. There is 
nothing else of that kind around, is there, mother?" 

" No, there is not," she replied ; " not a thing. 
There may be somewhere in the world, but there 
is not anywhere here." 

In the evening, as he sat with his mother, the 
boy kept questioning and teasing her to tell him 
of some other monsters — pulling on her skirts and 
repeating his questions. 

" I tell you," she said, " there are no such crea- 
tures." 

"Oh, mother, I know there are," said he, "and 
you must tell me about them." 

So he continued to bother her until her patience 
gave out, and she told him of another monster. 
Said she : " If you follow that canon down to the 
southeast, there is a very, very, very high cliff 
there, and the trail that goes over that cliff runs 
close by the side of a precipice. Now, that has 
been for ages a terrible place, for there is a Giant 
living there, who wears a hair-knot on his forehead. 
He lies there at length, sunning himself at his 
ease. He is very good-natured and very polite. 
His legs stretch across the trail on which men 
have to go who pass that way, and there is no 
other way to get by. And whenever a man tries 
to go by that trail, he says : ' Pass right along, 



76 Zuni Folk Tales 

pass right along ; I am glad to see you. Here is 
a fresh trail ; some one has just passed. Don't 
disturb me ; I am sunning myself.' Down below 
is the den where his children live, and on the flesh 
of these people he feeds them." 

" Mercy ! " exclaimed the boy. " Fearful ! I never 
shall go there, surely. That is too terrible ! 
Come, let us go to sleep ; I don't want to hear 
anything more about it." 

But the next morning, just as soon as daylight 
appeared, he got up, dressed himself, and snatched 
a morsel of food. 

His mother said to him : " Where are you go- 
ing ? Are you thinking of that place I told you 
about ?" 

" No, " said he ; "I am going to kill some prairie- 
dogs right here in sight. I will take my war-club." 

So he took his war-club, and thrust it into his 
belt in front, ran down the hill on which the vil- 
lage stood, and straightway went off to the place 
his mother had told him of. When he reached 
the top of the rocks he looked down, and there, 
sure enough, lay the Giant with the forehead knot. 

The Giant looked up and said : " Ah, my son, 
glad to see you this morning; glad to see you 
coming so early. Some one just passed here a 
little while ago ; you can see his tracks there." 

" Well," said the boy, " make room for me." 

" Oh, just step right over," said the old man ; 
"step right over me." 

" I can 't step over your great legs," said the 
boy ; " draw them up." 



How the Summer Birds Came -]-] 

"All right," said the old Demon. So he drew 
his knees up. " There, now, there is plenty of 
room; pass right along, my son." 

Just as the boy got near the place, he thrust 
out his leg suddenly that way, to kick him off the 
cliff ; but the boy was too nimble for him, and 
jumped aside. 

" Oh, dear me," cried the Monster ; " I had a 
stitch in my leg ; I had to stretch it out." 

"Ah," said the boy, "you tried to kick me off, 
did you?" 

" Oh, no," said the old villain ; " I had a terrible 
stitch in my knee," — and he began to knead his 
knee in the most vehement manner. "Just pass 
right along ; I trust it won't happen again." 

The boy again attempted to pass, and the same 
thing happened as before. 

" Oh, my knee ! my knee ! " exclaimed the 
Monster. 

" Yes, your knee, your knee ! " said the boy, 
as he whipped out his war-club and whacked the 
Giant on the head before he had time to recover 
himself. "Thus unto me you would have done, 
thus unto you ! " said the boy. 

No sooner had the Giant fallen than the little 
Top-knots gathered round him and began to eat ; 
and they ate and ate and ate, — there were many 
of them, and they were voracious — until they 
came to the top-knot on the old fellow's head, 
and then one of them cried ; " Oh, dear, alas and 
alas ! this is our own father ! " 

And while they were still crying, the boy cut 



78 Zuni Folk Tales 

out the Giant's heart and slung it over his 
shoulder ; then he climbed down the cliff to where 
the young Top-knots were, and slew them all except 
two, — a pair of them. Then he took these two, 
who were still young, like little children, and grasp- 
ing one by the throat, wrung its neck and threw 
it into the air, when it suddenly became a winged 
creature, and spread out its wings and soared 
away, crying : " Peep, peep, peep," just as the fal- 
cons of today do. Then he took the other one 
by the neck, and swung it round and round, and 
flung it into the air, and it flew away with a heavy 
motion, and cried : " Boohoo, boohoo, boohoo ! " 
and became an owl. 

"Ah," said the boy, "born for evil, changed for 
good ! Ye shall be the means whereby our chil- 
dren in the future shall sacrifice to the gods 
themselves." 

Then he trudged along home with the Giant's 
heart, and when he got there, he hung it on the 
cross-piece of the ladder by the side of the other 
hearts. It was almost night then. 

" There, now ! " said his mother, as he entered 
the house; " I have been troubled almost to death 
by your not coming home sooner. You went off 
to the place I told you of ; I know you did ! " 

" Ha ! " said he, " of course I did. I went up 
there, and the poor fellows are all dead." 

" Why will you not listen to me ? " said she. 

" Oh, it is all right, mother," said the boy. " It 
is all right." She went on scolding him in the 
usual fashion, but he paid no attention to her. 



How the Summer Birds Came 79 

As soon as she had sat down to her evening 
tasks, he asked : " Now, is there any other of these 
terrible creatures ? " 

" Well, I shall tell you of nothing more now," 
said she. 

" Why, is there anything more ?" asked the boy. 
" No, there is not," replied she. 
" Ah, mother, I think there must be." 
" No ; there is nothing more, I tell you." 
" Ah, mother, I think there must be," 
And he kept bothering and teasing until she 
told him again (she knew she would have to) : 
" Yes, away down in the valley, some distance from 
here, near the little Cold-making Hill, there lives a 
fearful creature, a four-fold Elk or Bison, more 
enormous than any other living thing. Awitcli 
Wakashi he is called, and no one can go near him. 
He rushes stamping and bellowing about the coun- 
try, and people never pass through that section 
from fear." 

" Ah," said the boy ; "don't tell me any more ; 
he must be a fearful creature, indeed." 

*' Yes ; but you will be sure to go there," 
said she. 

"Oh, no, no, mother; no, indeed !" 
But the next morning he went earlier than ever, 
carrying with him his bows and arrows. He was 
so filled with dread, however, or pretended to be, 
that as he went along the trail he began to cry 
and snififle, and walk very slowly, until he came 
near the hole of an old Gopher, his grandfather. 
The old fellow was working away, digging another 



8o Zuni Folk Tales 

cellar, throwing the dirt out, when he heard this 
crying. Said he : " That is my grandson ; I wonder 
what he is up to now." So he ran and stuck his 
nose out of the hole he was diesfing:, and said : 
" Oh, my grandchild, where are you going ? " 

The boy stopped and began to look around. 

" Right here ! right here ! " cried the grand- 
father, calling his attention to the hole. " Come, 
my boy." 

The boy put his foot in, and the hole enlarged, 
and he went down into it. 

" Now, dry your eyes, my grandchild, and tell me 
what is the matter." 

" Well," said the boy, " I was going to find the 
four-fold Bison. I wanted to take a look at him, 
but I am friofhtened ! " 

" Why, what is the matter ? Why do you not 
go ? " said the Gopher. 

" Well, to tell you the truth, I thought I would 
try to kill him," he answered. 

** Well, I will do what I can to help ; you had 
better not try to do it alone. Sit here com- 
fortably ; dry your eyes, and I will see what I 
can do." 

The old Gopher began to dig, dig, dig under 
the ground for a long way, making a fine tunnel, 
and packed it hard on the top and sides so that it 
would not fall in. He finally came to hear the 
" thud, thud, thud " of the heart of this creature, 
where it was lying, and dug the hole up to that 
spot. When he got there he saw the long layers 
of hair on its body, where no arrow could pene- 



How the Summer Birds Came 8i 

trate, and he cut the hair off, so that the skin 
showed white. Then he silently stole back to 
where the boy was and said : " Now, my boy, take 
your bow and arrows and go along through this 
hole until you get to where the tunnel turns up- 
ward, and then, if you look well, you will see a 
light patch. That is the skin next the heart of 
the four-fold Bison. He is sleeping there. You 
will hear the 'thud, thud, thud' of his heart. 
Shoot him exactly in the middle of that place, and 
then, mind you, turn around and run for your life, 
and the moment you get to my hole, tumble in, 
headforemost or any way." 

So the boy did as he was told — crawled through 
the tunnel until he came to where it went upward, 
saw the light patch, and let fly an arrow with all 
his might, then rushed and scrambled back as hard 
as he could. With a roar that shook the earth the 
four-fold Bison fell over, then stru^eled to his feet, 
snorted, bellowed, and stuck his great horn into 
the tunnel, and like a flash of fire ripped it from 
end to end, just as the boy came tumbling into the 
deeper hole of his grandfather. 

" Ah ! " exclaimed the Gopher. 

" He almost got me," said the boy. 

" Sit still a moment and rest, my grandson," said 
the Gopher. "He didn't catch you. I will go 
and see whether he is dead." 

So the Gopher stuck his nose out of the hole 
and saw there a great heap of flesh lying. He 
went out, nosed around, and smelt, jumped back, 
and went forward again until he came to the end 



82 Zuni Folk Tales 

of the creature, and then he took one of his nails 
and scratched out an eye, and there was no sign of 
life. So he ran back to the boy, and said : " Yes, 
he breathes no more ; you need not fear him longer." 

" Oh, thank you, my grandfather ! " said the boy. 
And he climbed out, and laid himself to work to 
skin the beast. He took off its great thick skin, 
and cut off a suitable piece of it, for the whole pelt 
was so large and heavy that he could not carry it ; 
then he took out the animal's great heart, and 
finally one of the large intestines and filled it with 
blood, then started for home. He went slowly, 
because his load was so heavy, and when he arrived 
he hung the heart on the ladder by the side of the 
others, and dragged the pelt to the sky-hole, and 
nearly scared the wits out of his mother by drop- 
ping it into the room. 

" Oh, my child, now, here you are ! Where have 
you been?" cried she. "I warned you of the 
place where the four-fold Bison was ; I wonder 
that you ever came home." 

" Ah, the poor creature ! " said the boy ; " he is 
dead. Just look at this. He is n't handsome any 
more ; he is n't strong and large any more." 

" Oh, you wretched, wretched boy ! You will 
be the death of me, as well as of yourself, some 
time," said the mother. 

"No, mother," said the boy ; " that is all nonsense." 

That evening the boy said to his mother : " Now, 
mother, is there anything else of this kind left? 
If there is, I want to know it. Now, don't disap- 
point me by refusing to tell." 



How the Summer Birds Came 83 

" Oh, my dear son," said she, " I wish you 
would n't ask me ; but indeed there is. There are 
terrible birds, great Eagles, fearful Eagles, living 
over on Shuntekia. In the very middle of an enor- 
mous cliff is a hollow place in the rocks where is 
built their nest, and there are their young ones. 
Day after day, far and near, they catch up children 
and young men and women, and carry them away, 
never more to be seen. These birds are more 
terrible than all the rest, because how can one get 
near to slay them ? My son, I do hope and trust 
that you will not go this time, — but, you foolish 
little boy, I see that you will go." 

** Well, mother, let us go to sleep, and never 
mind anything about it," said the boy. 

But after his mother had gone to sleep, he took 
the piece of rawhide he had skinned from the four- 
fold Bison, and, cutting it out, made himself a suit — 
a green rawhide suit, skin-tight almost, so that it 
was perfectly smooth. Then he scraped the hair 
off, greased it all over, and put it away inside a 
blanket so that it would not dry. In the morning, 
quite early, he took his weapons, and taking also 
his rawhide suit, and the section of the four-fold 
Bison's intestine which he had filled with blood, 
he ran into the inlet, and across it, and climbed 
the mesa near the Shuntekia cliff. When he came 
within a short distance of the nest of the Eagles, 
he stopped and slipped on his rawhide suit, and tied 
the intestine of blood round his neck, like a sausage. 

Then he began to cry and shake his head, and 
he cried louder than there was any need of his 



84 Zufii Folk Tales 

doing in reality ; for presently the old father of 
the Eagles, who was away up in the sky, just a 
mere speck, heard and saw him and came swishing 
down in a great circle, winding round and round 
the boy, and the boy looked up and began to cry 
louder still, as if frightened out of his wits, and 
finally rolled himself up like a porcupine, and threw 
himself down into the trail, crying and howling 
with apparent fear. The Eagle swooped down on 
him, and tried to grasp him in his talons, and, kopo 
kopooo^ his claws simply slipped off the rawhide 
coat. Then the Eagle made a fiercer grab at him 
and grew angry, but his claws would continually 
slip off, until he tore a rent in the intestine about 
the boy's neck, and the blood began to stream 
over the boy's coat, making it more slippery than 
ever. When the Eagle smelt the blood, he thought 
he had got him, and it made him fiercer than ever ; 
and finally, during his struggling, he got one talon 
through a stitch in the coat, and he spread out his 
wings, and flew up, and circled round and round 
over the point where the young Eagles neSt was, 
when he let go and shook the boy free, and the 
boy rolled over and over and came down into 
the nest ; but he struck on a great heap of brush, 
which broke his fall. He lay there quite still, and 
the old Eagle swooped down and poised himself 
on a great crag of rock near by, which was his 
usual perching place. 

" There, my children, my little ones," said he, 
" I have brought you food. Feast yourselves ! Feast 
yourselves ! For that reason I brought it." 



How the Summer Birds Came 85 

So the little Eagles, who were very awkward, 
long-legged and short-winged, limped up to the 
boy and reached out their claws and opened their 
beaks, ready to strike him in the face. He lay 
there quite still until they got very near, and then 
said to them : " Shhsht / " And they tumbled back, 
being awkward little fellows, and stretched up their 
necks and looked at him, as Eagles will. 

Then the old Eagle said : " Why don't you 
eat him ? Feast yourselves, my children, feast 
yourselves ! " 

So they advanced again, more cautiously this 
time, and a little more determinedly too ; and they 
reached out their beaks to tear him, and he said : 
" Shhsht ! " and, under his breath, " Don't eat me ! " 
And they jumped back again. 

" What in the world is the matter with you little 
fools ? " said the old Eagle. " Eat him ! I can 't stay 
here any longer ; I have to go away and hunt to 
feed you ; but you don't seem to appreciate my 
efforts much." And he lifted his wings, rose into 
the air, and sailed off to the northward. 

Then the two young Eagles began to walk around 
the boy, and to examine him at all points. Finally 
they approached his feet and hands. 

" Be careful, be careful, don't eat me ! Tell 
me about what time your mother comes home," 
said he, sitting up. " What time does she usually 
come ? " 

"Well," said the little Eagles, "she comes home 
when the clouds begin to gather and throw their 
shadow over our nest." (Really, it was the shadow 



86 Zuni Folk Tales 

of the mother Eagle herself that was thrown over 
the nest.) 

" Very well," said the boy ; " what time does your 
father come home ? " 

" When the fine rain begins to fall," said they, 
meaningr the dew. 

" Oh," said the boy. So he sat there, and by-and- 
by, sure enough, away off in the sky, carrying some- 
thing dangling from her feet, came the old mother 
Eagle. She soared round and round until she was 
over the nest, when she dropped her burden, and 
over and over it fell and tumbled into the nest, a 
poor, dead, beautiful maiden. The young boy looked 
at her, and his heart grew very hot, and when the 
old Eagle came and perched, in a moment he let fly 
an arrow, and struck her down and dashed her 
brains out. 

"Ha, ha!" exclaimed the boy. " What you have 
done to many, thus unto you." 

Then he took his station again, and by-and-by 
the old father Eagle came, bearing a youth, fair to 
look upon, and dropped him into the nest. The 
young boy shut his teeth, and he said : " Thus unto 
many you have done, and thus unto me you would 
have done ; so unto you." And he drew an arrow 
and shot him. Then he turned to the two young 
Eagles and killed them, and plucked out all the 
beautiful colored feathers about their necks, until he 
had a large bundle of fine plumes with which he 
thought to wing his arrows or to waft his prayers. 

Then he looked down the cliff and saw there was 
no way to climb down, and there was no way to 



How the Summer Birds Came 87 

climb up. Then he began to cry, and sat on the 
edge of the cHff, and cried so loud that the old Bat 
Woman, who was gathering cactus-berries below, or 
thought she was, overheard the boy. 

Said she : " Now, just listen to that. I warrant it 
is my fool of a grandson, who is always trying to 
get himself into a scrape. I am sure it must be so. 
Phoo ! phoo ! " 

She spilled out all the berries she had found from 
the basket she had on her back, and then labored up 
to where she could look over the edofe of the shelf. 

" Yes, there you are," said she ; "you simpleton ! 
you wretched boy ! What are you doing here ? " 

" Oh, my grandmother," said he, " I have got into 
a place and I cannot get out." 

"Yes," said she ; " if you were anything else but 
such a fool of a grandson and such a hard-hearted 
wretch of a boy, I would help you get down ; but 
you never do as your mother and grandmother or 
grandfathers tell you." 

" Ah, my grandmother, I will do just as you tell 
me this time," said the boy. 

" Now, will you ?" said she. " Now, can you be 
certain ? — will you promise me that you will keep 
your eyes shut, and join me, at least in your heart, 
in the prayer which I sing when I fly down ? Van 
lehalliah kzana. Never open your eyes ; if you do, 
the gods will teach you a lesson, and your poor old 
grandmother, too." 

" I will do just as you tell me," said he, as he 
reached over and took up his plumes and held them 
ready. 



88 Zuni Folk Tales 

"Not so fast, my child," said she; "you must 
promise me." 

" Oh, my grandmother, I will do just as you tell 
me," said he. 

" Well, step into my basket, very carefully now. 
As I go down I shall go very prayerfully, depend- 
ing on the gods to carry so much more than I usually 
carry. Do you not wink once, my grandson." 

" All right ; I will keep my eyes shut this time," 
said he. So he sat down and squeezed his eyes 
together, and held his plumes tight, and then the 
old grandmother launched herself forth on her 
skin wings. After she had struggled a little, she 
began to sing : 

" Ha ash tchaa ni, — Ha ash tchaa ni : 
Tche pa naa, — thlen-thle. 

Thlen ! Thlen ! Thlen ! " 

" Now, just listen to that," said the boy ; " my 
old grandmother is singing one of those tedious 
prayers ; it will take us forever to go down." 

Then presently the old Bat Woman, perfectly 
unconscious of his state of mind, began to sing 

again : 

" Thlen thla kia yai na kia." 

" There she goes again," said he to himself ; " I 
declare, I must look up ; it will drive me wild to 
sit here all this time and hear my old grandmother 
try to sing." 

Then, after a little while, she commenced again : 

" Ha ash tchaa ni, — Ha ash tchaa ni : 
Tche pa naa, — thlen-thle. 

Thlen ! Thlen ! Thlen ! " 



How the Summer Birds Came 89 

The boy stretched himself up, and said : " Look 
here, grandmother ! I have heard your ' Thlen / 
Thlen ! Thlcn / ' enough this time. I am going to 
open my eyes." 

" Oh, my grandchild, never think of such a 
thing." Then she began again to sing : 

" Ha ash tchaa ni, — Ha ash tchaa ni : 
Tche pa naa, — thlen-thle. 

Thlen ! Thlen ! Thlen ! " 

She was not near the orround when she finished 
it the fourth time, and the boy would not stand 
it any more. Lo ! he opened his eyes, and the old 
grandmother knew it in a moment. Over and 
over, boy over bat, bat over boy, and the basket 
between them, they went whirling and pitching 
down, the old grandmother tugging at her basket 
and scolding the boy. 

" Now, you foolish, disobedient one ! I told you 
what would happen ! You see what you have 
done ! " and so on until they fell to the ground. 
It fairly knocked the breath out of the boy, and 
when he got up again he yelled lustily. 

The old grandmother picked herself up, stretched 
herself, and cried out anew: "You wretched, fool- 
ish, hard-hearted boy ; I never will do anything 
for you again — never, never, never ! " 

" I know, my grandmother," said the boy, " but 
you kept up that ' Thlen / TJileti / Thlen / ' so 
much. What in the world did you want to spend 
so much time thlening, Ihlenmg, and buzzing round 
in that way for ?" 



go Zuni Folk Tales 

"Ah, me!" said she, "he never did know any- 
thing — never will be taught to know anything." 

"Now," said she to him, "you might as well 
come and eat with me. I have been gathering cac- 
tus-fruit, and you can eat and then go home." She 
took him to the place where she had poured out 
the contents of the basket, but there was scarcely a 
cactus-berry. There were cedar-berries, cones, 
sticks, little balls of dirt, coyote-berries, and every- 
thing- else uneatable. 

" Sit down, my grandson, and eat ; strengthen 
yourself after your various adventures and ex- 
ertions. I feel very weary myself," said she. 
And she took a nip of one of them ; but the boy 
could n't exactly bring himself to eat. The truth 
is, the old woman's eyes were bad, in the same 
way that bats' eyes are usually bad, and she 
could n't tell a cactus-berry from anything else 
round and rough. 

" Well, inasmuch as you won't eat, my grand- 
son," said she, "why, I can 't conceive, for these are 
very good, it seems to me. You had better run 
along home now, or your mother will be killing 
herself thinking of you. Now, I have only one 
direction to give you. You don't deserve any, but 
I will give you one. See that you pay attention to 
it. If not, the worst is your own. You have 
gathered a beautiful store of feathers. Now, be 
very careful. Those creatures who bore those 
feathers have ofained their lives from the lives of 
living beings, and therefore their feathers differ 
from other feathers. Heed what I say, my grand- 



How the Summer Birds Came 91 

son. When you come to any place where flowers 
are blooming, — where the sunflowers make the 
field yellow, — walk round those flowers if you want 
to get home with these feathers. And when you 
come to more flowers, walk round them. If you 
do not do that, just as you came you will go back 
to your home." 

" All right, my grandmother," said the boy. So, 
after bidding her good-by, he trudged away 
with his bundle of feathers ; and when he came to 
a great plain of sunflowers and other flowers he 
walked round them ; and when he came to an- 
other large patch he walked round them, and then 
another, and so on ; but finally he stopped, for it 
seemed to him that there were nothing but fields 
of flowers all the way home. He thought he had 
never seen so many before. 

"I declare," said he, "I will not walk round 
those flowers any more. I will hang on to these 
feathers, though." 

So he took a good hold of them and walked in 
amongst the flowers. But no sooner had he en- 
tered the field than flutter, flutter, flutter, little 
wings began to fly out from the bundle of feathers, 
and the bundle began to grow smaller and smaller, 
until it wholly disappeared. These wings which 
flew out were the wings of the Sacred Birds of 
Summerland, made living by the lives that had 
supported the birds which bore those feathers, and 
by coming into the environment which they had so 
loved, the atmosphere which flowers always bring 
of summer. 



92 Zuni Folk Tales 

Thus it was, my children, in the days of the an- 
cients, and for that reason we have little jay-birds, 
little sparrows, little finches, little willow-birds, and 
all the beautiful little birds that bring the summer, 
and they always hover over flowers. 

" My friends " [said the story-teller], " that is the 
way we live. I am very glad, otherwise I would 
not have told the story, for it is not exactly right 
that I should, — I am very glad to demonstrate to 
you that we also have books ; only they are not 
books with marks in them, but words in our 
hearts, which have been placed there by our 
ancients long ago, even so long ago as when the 
world was new and young, like unripe fruit. And 
I like you to know these things, because people 
say that the Zunis are dark people." ^ 

Thus shortens my story. 

' That is, people in the dark — having no knowledge. 





Phuto by A. C. \roman 



WAIHUSIWA 



THE SERPENT OF THE SEA 

Note. — The priest of the K'iaklu or epic-ritual of Zuiii is never allowed 
to initiate the telling of short folk-stories. If he make such a beginning, 
he must complete the whole cycle before he ceases his recital or his listeners 
relax their attention. The following tale was told by an attendant Indian 
(not a priest), whose name is Waihusiwa. 

" Son ah tehi ! " he exclaimed, which may be interpreted: " Let us abide 
with the ancients to-night." 

The listeners reply: " E-so" or " Tea-tu.'' ("Certainly," or "Be it 
well.") 

IN the times of our forefathers, under Thunder 
Mountain was a village called K'iakime ("Home 
of the Eagles"). It is now in ruins; the roofs 
are gone, the ladders have decayed, the hearths 
grown cold. But when it was all still perfect, and, 
as it were, new, there lived in this village a maiden, 
the daughter of the priest-chief. She was beauti- 
ful, but possessed of this peculiarity of character : 
There was a sacred spring of water at the foot of 
the terrace whereon stood the town. We now call 
it the Pool of the Apaches ; but then it was sacred 
to Kolowissi (the Serpent of the Sea). Now, at 
this spring the girl displayed her peculiarity, which 
was that of a passion for neatness and cleanliness 
of person and clothing. She could not endure the 
slightest speck or particle of dust or dirt upon her 
clothes or person, and so she spent most of her 
time in washing all the things she used and in 
bathing herself in the waters of this spring. 

Now, these waters, being sacred to the Serpent 
of the Sea, should not have been defiled in this 

93 



94 Zuni Folk Tales 

way. As might have been expected, Kolowissi be- 
came troubled and angry at the sacrilege committed 
in the sacred waters by the maiden, and he said : 
"Why does this maiden defile the sacred waters of 
my spring with the dirt of her apparel and the dun 
of her person ? I must see to this." So he devised 
a plan by which to prevent the sacrilege and to 
punish its author. 

When the maiden came again to the spring, 
what should she behold but a beautiful little child 
seated amidst the waters, splashing them, cooing 
and smiling. It was the Sea Serpent, wearing the 
semblance of a child, — for a god may assume any 
form at its pleasure, you know. There sat the child, 
laughing and playing in the water. The girl 
looked around in all directions — north, south, east, 
and west — but could see no one, nor any traces of 
persons who might have brought hither the beauti- 
ful little child. She said to herself : " I wonder 
whose child this may be ! It would seem to be 
that of some unkind and cruel mother, who has de- 
serted it and left it here to perish. And the poor 
little child does not yet know that it is left all alone. 
Poor little thing ! I will take it in my arms and 
care for it." 

The maiden then talked softly to the young 
child, and took it in her arms, and hastened with it 
up the hill to her house, and, climbing up the 
ladder, carried the child in her arms into the room 
where she slept. 

Her peculiarity of character, her dislike of all 
dirt or dust, led her to dwell apart from the rest 



The Serpent of the Sea 95 

of her family, in a room by herself above all of the 
other apartments. 

She was so pleased with the child that when she 
had got him into her room she sat down on the 
floor and played with him, laughing at his pranks 
and smiling into his face ; and he answered her in 
baby fashion with cooings and smiles of his own, 
so that her heart became very happy and loving. 
So it happened that thus was she engaged for a 
long while and utterly unmindful of the lapse 
of time. 

Meanwhile, the younger sisters had prepared the 
meal, and were awaiting the return of the elder 
sister, 

" Where, I wonder, can she be ?" one of them 
asked. 

" She is probably down at the spring," said the 
old father ; " she is bathing and washing her 
clothes, as usual, of course ! Run down and call 
her." 

But the younger sister, on going, could find no 
trace of her at the spring. So she climbed the 
ladder to the private room of this elder sister, and 
there found her, as has been told, playing with the 
little child. She hastened back to inform her 
father of what she had seen. But the old man sat 
silent and thoughtful. He knew that the waters 
of the spring were sacred. When the rest of the 
family were excited, and ran to behold the pretty 
prodigy, he cried out, therefore : " Come back ! 
come back ! Why do you make fools of your- 
selves ? Do you suppose any mother would leave 



96 Zuni Folk Tales 

her own child in the waters of this or any other 
spring ? There is something more of meaning 
than seems in all this." 

When they again went and called the maiden to 
come down to the meal spread for her, she could 
not be induced to leave the child. 

" See ! it is as you might expect," said the father. 
" A woman will not leave a child on any induce- 
ment ; how much less her own." 

The child at length grew sleepy. The maiden 
placed it on a bed, and, growing sleepy herself, 
at length lay by its side and fell asleep. Her sleep 
was genuine, but the sleep of the child was feigned. 
The child became elongated by degrees, as it were, 
fulfilling some horrible dream, and soon appeared 
as an enormous Serpent that coiled itself round 
and round the room until it was full of scaly, gleam- 
ing circles. Then, placing its head near the head 
of the maiden, the great Serpent surrounded her 
with its coils, taking finally its own tail in its 
mouth. 

The night passed, and in the morning when the 
breakfast was prepared, and yet the maiden did 
not descend, and the younger sisters became im- 
patient at the delay, the old man said : " Now 
that she has the child to play with, she will care 
little for aught else. That is enough to occupy the 
entire attention of any woman." 

But the little sister ran up to the room and 
called. Receiving no answer, she tried to open the 
door ; she could not move it, because the Serpent's 
coils filled the room and pressed against it. She 



The Serpent of the Sea 97 

pushed the door with all her might, but it could 
not be moved. She again and again called her 
sister's name, but no response came. Beginning 
now to be frightened, she ran to the skyhole over 
the room in which she had left the others and 
cried out for help. They hastily joined her, — all 
save the old father, — and together were able to 
press the door sufficiently to get a glimpse of the 
great scales and folds of the Serpent. Then 
the women all ran screaming to the old father. 
The old man, priest and sage as he was, quieted 
them with these words : " I expected as much as 
this from the first report which you gave me. It 
was impossible, as I then said, that a woman should 
be so foolish as to leave her child playing even 
near the waters of the spring. But it is not im- 
possible, it seems, that one should be so foolish 
as to take into her arms a child found as this 
one was." 

Thereupon he walked out of the house, deliber- 
ately and thoughtful, angry in his mind against 
his eldest daughter. Ascending to her room, he 
pushed against the door and called to the Serpent 
of the Sea : " Oh, Kolowissi ! It is I, who speak 
to thee, O Serpent of the Sea ; I, thy priest. Let, 
I pray thee, let my child come to me again, and I 
will make atonement for her errors. Release her, 
though she has been so foolish, for she is thine, 
absolutely thine. But let her return once more to us 
that we may make atonement to thee more amply." 
So prayed the priest to the Serpent of the Sea. 

When he had done this the great Serpent 



98 Zuni Folk Tales 

loosened his coils, and as he did so the whole 
building shook violently, and all the villagers 
became aware of the event, and trembled with 
fear. 

The maiden at once awoke and cried piteously 
to her father for help. 

" Come and release me, oh, my father ! Come and 
release me ! " she cried. 

As the coils loosened she found herself able to 
rise. No sooner had she done this than the great 
Serpent bent the folds of his large coils nearest 
the doorway upward so that they formed an arch. 
Under this, filled with terror, the girl passed. She 
was almost stunned with the dread din of the 
monster's scales rasping past one another with a 
noise like the sound of flints trodden under the 
feet of a rapid runner, and once away from the 
writhing mass of coils, the poor maiden ran like 
a frightened deer out of the doorway, down the 
ladder and into the room below, casting herself on 
the breast of her mother. 

But the priest still remained praying to the 
Serpent ; and he ended his prayer as he had 
begun it, saying : " It shall be even as I have 
said ; she shall be thine ! " 

He then went away and called the two warrior 
priest-chiefs of the town, and these called together 
all the other priests in sacred council. Then they 
performed the solemn ceremonies of the sacred 
rites — preparing plumes, prayer-wands, and offer- 
ings of treasure. 

After four days of labor, these things they ar- 



The Serpent of the Sea 99 

ranged and consecrated to the Serpent of the Sea. 
On that morning the old priest called his daughter 
and told her she must make ready to take these 
sacrifices and yield them up, even with herself, — 
most precious of them all, — to the great Serpent 
of the Sea ; that she must yield up also all thoughts 
of her people and home forever, and go hence to the 
house of the great Serpent of the Sea, even in the 
Waters of the World. " For it seems," said he, 
" to have been your desire to do thus, as mani- 
fested by your actions. You used even the sacred 
water for profane purposes ; now this that I have 
told you is inevitable. Come ; the time when you 
must prepare yourself to depart is near at hand." 

She went forth from the home of her childhood 
with sad cries, clinging to the neck of her mother 
and shivering with terror. In the plaza, amidst 
the lamentations of all the people, they dressed 
her in her sacred cotton robes of ceremonial, em- 
broidered elaborately, and adorned her with ear- 
rings, bracelets, beads, — many beautiful, precious 
things. They painted her cheeks with red spots 
as if for a dance ; they made a road of sacred meal 
toward the Door of the Serpent of the Sea — a dis- 
tant spring in our land known to this day as the 
Doorway to the Serpent of the Sea — four steps 
toward this spring did they mark in sacred ter- 
races on the ground at the western way of the 
plaza. And when they had finished the sacred 
road, the old priest, who never shed one tear, al- 
though all the villagers wept sore, — for the maiden 
was very beautiful, — instructed his daughter to go 

L.cfC. 



loo Zuni Folk Tales 

forth on the terraced road, and, standing there, call 
the Serpent to come to her. 

Then the door opened, and the Serpent de- 
scended from the high room where he was coiled, 
and, without using ladders, let his head and breast 
down to the ground in great undulations. He 
placed his head on the shoulder of the maiden, 
and the word was given — the word : " It is time " — 
and the maiden slowly started toward the west, 
cowering beneath her burden ; but whenever she 
staggered with fear and weariness and was like to 
wander from the way, the Serpent gently pushed 
her onward and straightened her course. 

Thus they went toward the river trail and in it, 
on and over the Mountain of the Red Paint ; yet 
still the Serpent was not all uncoiled from the 
maiden's room in the house, but continued to crawl 
forth until they were past the mountain — when the 
last of his length came forth. Here he began to 
draw himself together ao-ain and to assume a new 
shape. So that ere long his serpent form con- 
tracted, until, lifting his head from the maiden's 
shoulder, he stood up, in form a beautiful youth in 
sacred gala attire ! He placed the scales of his 
serpent form, now small, under his flowing mantle, 
and called out to the maiden in a hoarse, hissing 
voice : " Let us speak one to the other. Are you 
tired, girl ? " Yet she never moved her head, but 
plodded on with her eyes cast down. 

" Are you weary, poor maiden?" — then he said 
in a gentler voice, as he arose erect and fell a little 
behind her, and wrapped his scales more closely 



The Serpent of the Sea loi 

in his blanket — and he was now such a splendid 
and brave hero, so magnificently dressed ! And 
he repeated, in a still softer voice : " Are you still 
weary, poor maiden ? " 

At first she dared not look around, thoueh the 
voice, so changed, sounded so far behind her and 
thrilled her wonderfully with its kindness. Yet 
she still felt the weight on her shoulder, the weight 
of that dreaded Serpent's head ; for you know after 
one has carried a heavy burden on his shoulder or 
back, if it be removed he does not at once know 
that it is taken away ; it seems still to oppress and 
pain him. So it was with her ; but at length she 
turned around a little and saw a young man — a 
brave and handsome young man. 

"May I walk by your side?" said he, catching 
her eye. " Why do you not speak with me ? " 

*' I am filled with fear and sadness and shame," 
said she. 

" Why ? " asked he. " What do you fear ? " 

" Because I came with a fearful creature forth 
from my home, and he rested his head upon my 
shoulder, and even now I feel his presence there," 
said she, lifting her hand to the place where his head 
had rested, even still fearing that it might be there. 

" But I came all the way with you," said he, " and 
I saw no such creature as you describe." 

Upon this she stopped and turned back and 
looked again at him, and said : " You came all the 
way ? I wonder where this fearful being has gone ! " 

He smiled, and replied : " I know where he has 
gone." 



I02 Zuni Folk Tales 

" Ah, youth and friend, will he now leave me 
in peace," said she, " and let me return to the 
home of my people ? " 

" No," replied he, " because he thinks very much 
of you." 

" Why not ? Where is he ? " 

" He is here," said the youth, smiling, and lay- 
ing his hand on his own heart. " I am he." 

" You are he ? " cried the maiden. Then she 
looked at him again, and would not believe him. 

"Yea, my maiden, I am he!" said he. And he 
drew forth from under his flowing mantle the shriv- 
elled serpent scales, and showed them as proofs of 
his word. It was wonderful and beautiful to the 
maiden to see that he was thus, a gentle being ; and 
she looked at him long. 

Then he said : " Yes, I am he. I love you, my 
maiden ! Will you not haply come forth and dwell 
with me ? Yes, you will go with me, and dwell with 
me, and I will dwell with you, and I will love you. 
I dwell not now, but ever, in all the Waters of the 
World, and in each particular water. In all and each 
you will dwell with me forever, and we will love 
each other." 

Behold ! As they journeyed on, the maiden quite 
forgot that she had been sad ; she forgot her old 
home, and followed and descended with him into 
the Doorway of the Serpent of the Sea and dwelt 
with him ever after. 

It was thus in the days of the ancients. There- 
fore the ancients, no less than ourselves, avoided 



The Serpent of the Sea 103 

using springs, except for the drinking of their water ; 
for to this day we hold the flowing springs the most 
precious things on earth, and therefore use them 
not for any profane purposes whatsoever. 
Thus shortens my story. 



THE MAIDEN OF THE YELLOW ROCKS 

IN the days of the ancients, when our ancestors 
Hved in the Village of the Yellow Rocks/ also in 
the Salt City,~ also in the Village of the Winds,^ and 
also in the Village of the White Flowering Herbs, and 
also in the Village of Odd Waters, where they come 
forth, when in fact all these broken-down villages 
were inhabited by our ancients, there lived in the 
Village of the Yellow Rocks a very beautiful maiden, 
the daughter of the high priest. 

Although a woman, she was wonderfully endowed 
by birth with the magic knowledge of the hunt and 
with the knowledge of all the animals who contribute 
to the sustenance of man, — game animals. And, 
although a woman, she was also somewhat bad in 
her disposition, and selfish, in that, possessing this 
knowledge above all other men and women, she 
concluded she would have all these animals — the 
deer, antelope, rabbits — to herself. So, through 
her wonderful knowledge of their habits and lan- 
guage, she communicated with them and charmed 
them, and on the top of the mountain — where you 
will see to this day the ancient figures of the deer 
cut in the rock — she built a huge corral, and gath- 
ered one after another all the deer and antelope 
and other wild animals of that great country. And 

' Situated about seven miles east of Zuiii. 

* Matsaki, now a ruin about three miles east of Zuni. 

^ Pinawa, an ancient ruin about a mile and a half west of Zuiii. 

104 



The Mkiden of the Yellow Rocks 105 

the hunters of these villages hunted in vain ; they 
trailed the deer and the antelope, but they lost their 
trails and always came home with nothing save the 
weapons they took with them. But this maiden, 
whenever she wished for deer, would go to her cor- 
ral and kill whatever animal she wanted ; so she 
and her family always had plenty of meat, while 
others were without it ; always had plenty of buck- 
skins with which to make moccasins and apparel, 
while others were every day wearing out their old 
supply and never able to replenish it. 

Now, this girl was surpassingly beautiful, and was 
looked upon by many a young man as the flower of 
his heart and the one on whom he would ultimately 
concentrate his thouo^hts for life. Amongfst these 
young men, the first to manifest his feelings was a 
youth from the Village of the Winds. 

One day he said to his old people : " I am going 
courting." And they observed that he made up a 
bundle of various precious things for women's 
dress and ornamentation — necklaces, snow-white 
buckskin moccasins and leggings, and embroidered 
skirts and mantles — and, taking his bundle on his 
shoulders, he started off for the Village of the 
Yellow Rocks. 

When he reached the village he knew the home 
of the maiden by the beauty of the house. Among 
other houses it was alone of its kind. Attached 
to the ladder was the cross-piece carved as it is in 
these days, but depending from it was a fringe of 
black hair (not scalp-locks) with which they still 
ornament certain houses when they have sacred 



io6 Zuni Folk Tales 

ceremonies ; and among this fringe were hung hol- 
low stalactites from a sacred cave on the Colorado 
Chiquito, which sounded, when the wind blew 
them toofether, like little bells. This fringe was 
full of them, so that when a stranger came to 
this important chief-priest's house he no sooner 
touched the ladder-rung at the foot than the bells 
tinkled, and they knew some one was coming. 

As he placed his foot on the lowermost rung of 
the ladder, chi-la-li sang the bells at the top. 

Said the people within : " Some one is coming." 

Step after step he went up, and still the bells 
made music at the top, and as he stepped over on 
the roof, thud, thtid, his footsteps sounded as he 
walked along ; and when he reached the door, those 
within said: "Thou comest?" And he replied: 
" I come. Draw me in " ; by which expression he 
meant that he had brought with him a present to 
the family. Whenever a man has a bundle to 
hand down, it is the place of the woman to take it ; 
and that is called " drawing a man in," though she 
only takes his bundle and he follows. In this case 
he said " Draw me in," and the maiden came to 
the top of the ladder and took the bundle and 
dropped it on the floor. They knew by the ap- 
pearance of the bundle what the object of the visit 
was. 

The old man was sitting by the fireplace, — it 
was night-time, — and as the stranger entered, 
said, " Thou hast come ?" 

The young man answered : " Yes." 

Said the old man : " It is not customary for a 



The Maiden of the Yellow Rocks 107 

stranger to visit the house of a stranger without 
saying something of what may be in his thoughts." 

" It is quite true," said the youth ; " I come 
thinking of this maiden, your daughter. It has 
occurred to me that I might happily and without 
fear rest my thoughts and hopes on her ; therefore 
I come." 

The daughter brought forth food for the young 
man and bade him eat. He reached forth his 
hand and partook of the food. She sat down and 
took a mouthful or two, whereby they knew she 
was favorably disposed. She was favorably dis- 
posed to all appearance, but not in reality. When 
he had finished eating, she said : "As you like, my 
father. You are my father." She answered to her 
own thoughts : " Yes, you have often reproached 
me for not treating with more gentleness those 
who come courtinof me." 

Finally said the father : " I give ye my bless- 
ing and sacred speech, my children. I will adopt 
thee as my child." ^ 

" My children," said the father, after a while, 
when he had smoked a little, " the stranger, now a 
son, has come a long distance and must be weary." 

So the maiden led him to an upper chamber, and 
said : " Rest here ; you are not yet my husband. 
I would try you in the morning. Get up early, 
when the deer are most plentiful, and go forth and 
slay me a fine one, and then indeed shall we rest 
our hopes and thoughts on each other for life." 

" It is well," said the youth ; and he retired to 

■ This, it may be explaned, is all that the marriage ceremony consists of. 



io8 Zuni Folk Tales 

sleep, and in the morning arose early. The maiden 
gave into his hands the food for the day ; he caught 
up his bows and arrows and went forth into the 
forests and mountains, seeking for the deer. He 
found a superb track and followed it until it sud- 
denly disappeared, and though he worked hard 
and followed it over and over again, he could find 
nothing. While the young man was out hunting 
and following the tracks for nothing, the young girl 
went out, so as to be quite sure that none of her 
deer should get out ; and what did she do ? She went 
into the river and followed it against the current, 
through the water beyond the village and where the 
marked rocks stand, up the canon to the place where 
her deer were gathered. They were all there, peace- 
ful and contented. But there were no tracks of the 
girl ; no one could follow where she went. 

The young man hunted and hunted, and at 
night-time, all tired out and hungry, took his way 
back to the home of the maiden. She was there. 

" Ha ! " said she, " what good fortune today ? " 

And the young man with his face dragged down 
and his eyes not bright, answered : " I found no 
game today." 

" Well," said the girl, " it is too bad ; but under 
the circumstances we cannot rest our thoughts and 
hopes on each other for life," 

*' No, I suppose not," said the young man. 

" Here is your bundle," said the girl. She raised 
it very carefully and handed it to him. He took 
it over his shoulder, and after all his weary work 
went on his way home. 



The Maiden of the Yellow Rocks 109 

The very next day a young man named Halona, 
when he heard of this, said : " Ha ! ha ! What a fool 
he was ! He did n't take her enough presents ; he 
did n't please her. I am said to be a very pleasant 
fellow " (he was a very conceited young man) ; " I 
will take her a bundle that will make things all 
right." 

So he put into a bundle everything that a woman 
could reasonably want, — for he was a wealthy 
young man, and his bundle was very heavy, — put 
on his best dress, and with fine paint on his face 
started for the home of the maiden. Finally, his 
foot touched the lowermost rung of the ladder ; 
the stalactites went jingling above as he mounted, 
and thud went his bundle as he dropped it on the 
roof. 

" Somebody has come," said the people below. 
" Listen to that ! " 

The maiden shrugged her shoulders and said : 
" Thou comest ? " 

" Yes," answered the young man ; " draw me in." 

So she reached up and pulled the huge bundle 
down into the room, placing it on the floor, and 
the young man followed it down. 

Said the old man, who was sitting by the fire, 
for it was night : " Thou comest. Not thinking of 
nothing doth one stranger come to the house of 
another. What may be thy thoughts ? " 

The young man looked at the maiden and said 
to himself : '* What a mag-nificent creature she is ! 
She will be my wife, no fear that she will not." 
Then said he aloud : " I came, thinking of your 



I lo Zuni Folk Tales 

daughter. I would rest my hopes and thoughts 
on her." 

" It is well," said the old man. " It is the cus- 
tom of our people and of all people, that they may 
possess dignity, that they may be the heads of 
households ; therefore, young men and maidens 
marry and establish themselves in certain houses. 
I have no objection. What dost thou think, my 
daughter ? " 

" I have no objection," said the daughter. 

" Ah, what did I tell you ? " said the youth to 
himself, and ate with a great deal of satisfaction 
the meal placed before him. 

The father laid out the corn-husks and tobacco, 
and they had a smoke ; then he said to his daughter : 
*' The stranger who is now my son has come a 
long way, and should not be kept sitting up so 
long." 

As the daughter led him to another room, he 
thought : " What a gentle creature she is ! How 
softly she steps up the ladder." 

When the door was reached, she said : " Here 
we will say good-night." 

" What is the matter ? " he asked. 

Said she : " I would like to know of my husband 
this much, that he is a good hunter ; that I may 
have plenty of food all my days, and plenty of 
buckskins for my clothing. Therefore I must ask 
that in the morning you go forth and hunt the 
deer, or bring home an antelope for me. 

The young man quickly recovered himself, and 
said : '* It is well," and lay himself down to rest. 



The Maiden of the Yellow Rocks 1 1 1 

So the next morning he went out, and there was 
the maiden at the top of the house watching him. 
He could n't wait for daylight ; he wanted the Sun, 
his father, to rise before his time, and when the 
Sun did rise he jumped out of bed, tied his quiver 
to his belt, took his bow in his hand, and, with a 
little luncheon the maiden had prepared for him, 
started off. 

As he went down the river he saw the maiden 
was watching him from the top of the house ; so 
he started forward and ran until he was out of 
sight, to show how fine a runner he was and how 
good a hunter ; because he was reputed to be a 
very strong and active young man. He hunted 
and hunted, but did not find any deer, nor even 
any tracks. 

Meanwhile, the maiden went up the stream as 
before and kept watch of the corral ; and he fared 
as the other young man had fared. At night he 
came home, not quite so downcast as the other 
had been, because he was a young man of more 
self-reliance. 

She asked, as she met him : " Have n't you got 
any deer today ?" 

He answered : "No." 

She said : " I am sorry, but under the circum- 
stances I don't see how we can become husband 
and wife." 

So he carried his bundle home. 

The next day there was a young man in the 
City of Salt who heard of this, — not all of it, but 
he heard that day after day young men were going 



112 Zuni Folk Tales 

to the home of this maiden to court her, and she 
turned them all away. He said : " I dare say they 
did n't take enough with them." So he made up 
two bundles and went to the home of the maiden, 
and he said to himself : " This time it will be all 
right." 

When he arrived, much the same conversation 
was gone through as before with the other young 
men, and the girl said, when she lighted him to the 
door of his room : " My young friend, if you will 
find a deer for me tomorrow I will become your 
wife and rest my hope only on you." 

" Mercy on me ! " thought the young man to him- 
self, " I have always been called a poor hunter. 
What shall I do?" 

The next morning he tried, but with the same 
results. 

Now, this girl was keeping the deer and antelope 
and other animals so long closed up in the corral 
that the people in all the villages round about were 
ready to die of hunger for meat. Still, for her own 
gratification she would keep these animals shut up. 

The young man came back at evening, and she 
asked him if he had found a deer for her. 

" No," said he, " I could not even find the trail 
of one." 

" Well/' she said, " I am sorry, for your bundles 
are heavy." 

He took them up and went home with them. 

Finally, this matter became so much talked about 
that the two small gods on the top of Thunder 
Mountain, who lived with their grandmother where 



The Maiden of the Yellow Rocks 113 

our sacrificial altar now stands, said : " There is 
something wrong here ; we will go and court this 
maiden." Now, these gods were extremely ugly in 
appearance when they chose to be — mere pigmies 
who never grew to man's stature. They were al- 
ways boys in appearance, and their grandmother 
was always crusty with them ; but they concluded 
one night that they would go the next day to woo 
this maiden. 

Said one to the other : " Suppose we go and try 
our luck with her." Said he : " When I look at you, 
you are ver}^ handsome." 

Said the other to him : " When I look at you, you 
are extremely handsome." 

They were the ugliest beings in human form, but 
in reality were among the* most magnificent of 
men, having power to take any form they chose. 

Said the elder one : •* Grandmother, you know 
how much talk there is about this maiden in the 
Village of the Yellow Rocks. We have decided to 
go and court her." 

"You miserable, dirty, ugly little wretches! 
The idea of your going to court this maiden when 
she has refused the finest young men in the land ! " 
" Well, we will go," said he. 

"I don't want you to go," replied she. "Your 
names will be in the mouths of everybody; you 
will be laughed and jeered at." 

" We will go," said they. And, without paying 
the slightest attention to their grandmother, they 
made up their bundle — a very miserable bundle it 
was ; the younger brother put in little rocks and 



114 Zuni Folk Tales 

sticks and bits of buckskins and all sorts of worth- 
less things — and they started off. 

"What are you carrying this bundle for?" 
asked Ahaiyuta, the elder brother. 

" I am taking it as a present to the maiden," 
said Matsailema, the younger one. 

" She does n't want any such trash as that," said 
the other. " They have taken very valuable pres- 
ents to her before ; we have nothing to take equal 
to what has been carried to her by others." 

They decided to throw the bundle away alto- 
gether, and started out with absolutely nothing but 
their bows and arrows. 

As they proceeded they began to kill wood-rats, 
and continued until they had slaughtered a large 
number and had a long string of them held up by 
their tails. 

" There ! " exclaimed the younger brother. 
" There is a fine present for the girl." They 
knew perfectly well how things were, and were 
looking out for the interests of their children in 
the villages round about. 

" Oh, my younger brother ! " said the elder. 
" These will not be acceptable to the girl at all ; 
she would not have them in the house ! " 

*' Oh, yes, she would," said the younger; "we 
will take them along as a present to her." 

So they went on, and it was hardly noon when 
they arrived with their strings of rats at the white 
cliffs on the southern side of the canon opposite 
the village where the maiden lived. 

" Here, let us sit down in the shade of this cliff," 



The Maiden of the Yellow Rocks 115 

said the elder brother, " for it is not proper to o-q 
courting until evening." 

"Oh, no," said the younger, "let us go along 
now. I am in a hurry ! I am in a hurry ! " 

" You are a fool ! " said the elder brother ; " you 
should not think of going courting before evenino-. 
Stay here patiently." 

So they sat down in the shade of the cliff. But 
the younger kept jumping up and running out to 
see how the sun was all the afternoon, and he 
would go and smooth out his string of rats from 
time to time, and then go and look at the sun again. 
Finally, when the sun was almost set, he called out : 
" Now, come on ! " 

" Wait until it is wholly dark," said the other. 
"You never did have any patience, sense, or 
dignity about you." 

" Why not go now ? " asked the younger. 
So they kept quarrelling, but the elder brother's 
wish prevailed until it was nearly dark, when they 
went on. 

The elder brother began to get very bashful as 
they approached the village. " I wonder which 
house it is," said he. 

" The one with the tallest ladder in front of it, 
of course," said the other. 

Then the elder brother said in a low voice : 
" Now, do behave yourself; be dignified." 
" All right ! " replied the younger. 
When they got to the ladder, the elder one said 
in a whisper : " I don't want to go up here ; I don't 
want to go courting ; let 's go back." 



ii6 Zuni Folk Tales 

" Go along up," said the younger. 

" Keep still ; be quiet !" said the elder one ; "be 
dignified ! " 

They went up the ladder very carefully, so that 
there was not a tinkle from the bells. The elder 
brother hesitated, while the younger one went on 
to the top, and over the edge of the house. 

" Now ! " cried he. 

" Keep still ! " whispered the other ; and he gave 
the ladder a little shake as he went, and the bells 
tinkled at the top. 

The people downstairs said : *' Who in the world 
is cominof now ?" 

When they were both on the roof, the elder 
brother said : "You go down first." 

" I will do nothing of the kind," said the other, 
" you are the elder." 

The people downstairs called out : " Who comes 
there?" 

" See what you have done, you simpleton ! " 
said the elder brother. Then with a great deal of 
dignity he walked down the ladder. The younger 
one came tumbling down, carrying his string of 
rats. 

" Throw it out, you fool ; they don't want rats ! " 
said the elder one. 

" Yes, they do," replied the other. " The girl 
will want these ; maybe she will marry us on 
account of them ! " 

The elder brother was terribly disturbed, but the 
other brought his rats in and laid them in the 
middle of the floor. 



The Maiden of the Yellow Rocks 117 

The father looked up, and said : " You come ? " 

" Yes," answered the two odd ones. 

" Sit down," said the old man. So they sat 
down, and food was placed before them. 

" It seems," said the father, "that ye have met 
with luck today in hunting," as he cast his eyes 
on the string of rats. 

"Yes," said the Two. 

So the old priest went and got some prayer- 
meal, and, turning the faces of the rats toward the 
east, said a short prayer. 

"What did I tell you?" said the younger 
brother ; " they like the presents we have brought. 
Just see ! " 

Presently the old man said : " It is not customary 
for strangers to come to a house without something 
in mind." 

" Quite so," said the younger brother. 

" Yes, my father," said the elder one ; " we have 
come thinking of your daughter. We understand 
that she has been wooed by various young men, 
and it has occurred to us that they did not bring 
the right kind of presents." 

" So we brought these," said the younger brother. 

" It is well," said the old man. " It is the custom 
for maidens and youths to marry. It rests with 
my daughter." 

So he referred the matter to his daughter, and 
she said : " As you think, my father. Which one ?" 

" Oh, take us both ! " said the younger brother. 

This was rather embarrassing to the maiden, but 
she knew she had a safe retreat. So when the 



ii8 Zuni Folk Tales 

father admonished her that it was time to lead 
the two young men up into the room where the 
others had been placed, she told them the same 
story. 

They said, " It is well." 

They lay down, but instead of sleeping spent 
most of the night in speculating as to the future. 

" What a magnificent wife we will have," said 
one to the other. 

" Don't talk so loud ; every one will hear you ; 
you will be covered with shame ! " 

After a while they went to sleep ; but were awake 
early the next morning. The younger brother be- 
gan to talk to the elder one, who said : " Keep 
quiet ; the people are not awake ; don't disturb 
them ! " 

The younger one said : " The sun is rising." 

" Keep quiet," said the other, " and when they 
are awake they will give us some luncheon to take 
with us." 

But the younger one jumped up and went rushing 
about the house, calling out : " The sun is rising ; 
Get up ! " 

The luncheon was provided, and when they 
started off the maiden went out on the house-top 
and asked them which direction they would take. 

Said they : " We will go over to the south and 
will get a deer before long, although we are very 
small and may not meet with very good luck." 

So they descended the ladder, and the maiden 
said to herself : " Ugly, miserable little wretches ; I 
will teach them to come courting me in this way ! " 



The Maiden of the Yellow Rocks 119 

The brothers went off to the cliffs, and, while 
pretending to be hunting, they ran back through 
the thickets near the house and waited to see what 
the maiden would do. 

Pretty soon she came out. They watched her 
and saw that she went down the valley and pres- 
ently ran into the river, leaving no trail behind, 
and took her course up the stream. They ran on 
ahead, and long before she had ascended the river 
found the path leading out of it up the mountain. 
Following this path, they came to the corral, and, 
looking over it, they saw thousands of deer, moun- 
tain-sheep, antelope, and other animals wandering 
around in the enclosure. 

" Ha ! here is the place ! " the younger brother 
exclaimed. " Let us go at them now ! " 

" Keep quiet ! Be patient ! Wait till the maid- 
en comes," said the elder one. " If we should 
happen to kill one of these deer before she comes, 
perhaps she has some magic power or knowledge 
by which she would deprive us of the fruits of our 
efforts." 

" No, let us kill one now," said the other. But 
the elder one kept him curbed until the maiden 
was climbing the cliff, when he could restrain him 
no longer, and the youth pulled out his bow and 
let fly an arrow at the largest deer. One arrow, 
and the deer fell to the ground, and when the 
maiden appeared on the spot the deer was lying 
dead not far away. 

The brothers said : " You come, do you ? And 
here we are ! " 



I20 Zuni Folk Tales 

She looked at them, and her heart went down and 
became as heavy as a stone, and she did not answer. 

" I say, you come ! " said the younger brother. 
"You come, do you ?" 

She said, "Yes." Then said she to herself: 
" Well, I suppose I shall have to submit, as I made 
the arrangement myself." Then she looked up 
and said : " I see you have killed a deer." 

" Yes, we killed one ; did n't have any difficulty 
at all," said the younger brother. " Come, and help 
us skin him ; we are so little and hungry and tired 
we can't do it. Come on." 

So the girl went slowly forward, and in a de- 
jected way helped them skin the deer. Then they 
began to shoot more deer, and attempted to drag 
them out ; but the men were so small they could 
not do it, and the girl had to help them. Then 
they cut up the meat and made it into bundles. 
She made a large one for herself, and they made 
two little ones for themselves. 

" Now," said they, wiping their brows, " we have 
done a good day's work, have n't we ? " and they 
looked at the maiden with twinkling eyes. 

" Yes," said she ; " you are great hunters." 

" Shall we go toward home ? " asked the younger 
brother of the maiden. " It would be a shame for 
you to take such a bundle as that. I will take it 
for you." 

" You little conceited wretch ! " cried the elder 
brother. " Have n't I tried to restrain you ? — and 
now you are going to bury yourself under a bundle 
of meat ! " 



The Maiden of the Yellow Rocks 121 

" No," said the younger brother, '* I can carry it." 
So they propped the great bundle of meat against 
a tree. The elder brother called on the maiden 
to help him ; the younger one stooped down and 
received it on his back. , They had no sooner let 
go of it than it fell on the ground and completely 
flattened the little man out. 

"Mercy! mercy! I am dying; help me out of 
here ! " cried he. 

So they managed to roll the thing off, and he 
got up and rubbed his back, complaining bitterly 
(he was only making believe), and said : " I shall 
have to take my little bundle." 

So he shouldered his little bundle, and the maid- 
en took the large one ; but before she started she 
turned to the animals and said, " Oh, my children ! 
these many days, throwing the warm light of your 
favor upon me, you have rested contented to remain 
away from the sight of men. Now, hereafter you 
shall go forth whithersoever you will, that the earth 
may be covered with your offspring, and men may 
once more have of your flesh to eat and of your 
pelts to wear." And away went the antelope, the 
deer, the mountain-sheep, the elk, and the buffalo 
over all the land. 

Then the young Gods of War turned to the 
maiden and said : " Now, shall we go home ? " 
"Yes," said she. 

"Well, I will take the lead," said the younger 
brother. 

" Get behind where you belong," said the other ; 
" I will precede the party." So the elder brother 



122 Zuni Folk Tales 

went first, the maiden came next, and the younger 
brother followed behind, with his little bag of 
meat. 

So they went home, and the maiden placed 
the meat to dry in the upper rooms of the house. 

While she was doing this, it was yet early in 
the day. The two brothers were sitting together, 
and whispering: "And what will she say for her- 
self now ? " 

" I don't see what she can say for herself." 

" Of course, nothing can she say for herself." 

And when the meat was all packed away in the 
house and the sun had set, they sat by themselves 
talking this over : " What can she say for herself ?" 

" Nothing whatever ; nothing remains to be 
done." 

" That is quite so," said they, as they went in 
to the evening meal and sat with the family to 
eat it. 

Finally the maiden said : " With all your hunt- 
ing and the labors of the day, you must be very 
weary. Where you slept last night you will find 
a resting-place. Go and rest yourselves. I can- 
not consent to marry you, because you have not 
yet shown yourselves capable of taking care of 
and dressing the buckskins, as well as of killing 
deer and antelope and such animals. For a long 
time buckskins have been accumulatino- in the 
upper room. I have no brothers to soften and 
scrape them ; therefore, if you Two will take the 
hair off from all my buckskins tomorrow before 
sunset, and scrape the underside so that they will 



The Maiden of the Yellow Rocks 123 

be thin and soft, I will consent to be the wife of 
one of you, or both." 

And they said : " Oh mercy, it is too bad ! " 

" We can never do it," said the younger brother. 

" I don't suppose we can ; but we can try," 
said the elder. 

So they lay down. 

" Let us take things in time," said the elder 
one, after he had thought of it. And they jumped 
up and called to the maiden : " Where are those 
buckskins ?" 

*' They are in the upper room," said she. 

She showed them the way to the upper room. 
It was packed to the rafters with buckskins. They 
began to make big bales of these and then took 
them down to the river. When they got them 
all down there they said : " How in the world can 
we scrape so many skins ? There are more here 
than we can clean in a year." 

" I will tell you what," said the younger brother ; 
*'we will stow away some in the crevices of the 
rocks, and get rid of them in that way," 

" Always hasty, always hasty," said the elder. 
" Do you suppose that woman put those skins 
away without counting every one of them ? We 
can't do that." 

They spread them out in the water that they 
might soak all night, and built a little dam so they 
would not float away. While they were thus 
engaged they heard some one talking, so they 
pricked up their ears to listen. 

Now, the hill that stands by the side across from 



124 Zufii Folk Tales 

the Village of the Yellow Rocks was, and still is, 
a favorite home of the Field-mice. They are very 
prolific, and have to provide great bundles of wool 
for their families. But in the days of the ancients 
they were terrible gamblers and were all the time 
betting away their nests, and the young Mice 
being perfectly bare, with no wool on them at all, 
died of cold. And still they kept on betting, 
making little figures of nests and betting these 
away against the time when they should have 
more. It was these Mice which the two gods 
overheard. 

Said the younger brother : " Listen to that ! 
Who is talking?" 

" Some one is betting. Let us go nearer." 

They went across the river and listened, and 
heard the tiny little voices calling out and shouting. 

" Let us go in," said the younger brother. And 
he placed his foot in the hole and descended, 
followed by the other. They found there an 
enormous village of Field-mice in human form, 
their clothes, in the shape of Mice, hanging over 
the sides of the house. Some had their clothing 
all off down to their waists, and were betting as 
hard as they could and talking with one another. 

As soon as the two brothers entered, they said : 
" Who comes ?" 

The Two answered : " We come." 

" Come in, come in," cried the Mice, — they were 
not very polite. " Sit down and have a game. 
We have not anything to bet just now, but if you 
trust us we will bet with you." 



The Maiden of the Yellow Rocks 125 

"What had you in mind in coming?" said an 
old Field-mouse with a broken tail. 

They answered that they had come because they 
heard voices. Then they told their story. 

" What is this you have to do ? " asked the Mice. 

" To clean all the hair off those pelts tomorrow." 

The Mice looked around at one another; their 
eyes fairly sparkled and burned. 

" Now, then, we will help you if you will promise 
us something," said they ; " but we want your sol- 
emn promise." 

" What is that ?" asked the brothers. 

" That you will give us all the hair." 

"Oh, yes," said the brothers; "we will be glad 
to get rid of it." 

" All right," said they ; " where are the skins?" 
Then they all began to pour out of the place, and 
they were so numerous that it was like water, when 
the rain is falling hard, running over a rock. 

When they had all run out the two War-gods 
drew the skins on the bank, and the Field-mice 
went to nibbling the hair and cleaning off the un- 
derside. They made up little bundles of the flesh 
from the skins for their food, and great parcels of the 
hair. Finally they said : " May we have them all ? " 

" No," said the brothers, " we must have eight 
reserved, four for each, so that we will be hard at 
work all day tomorrow." 

"Well," said the Mice, "we can't consent to 
leaving even so many, unless you promise that you 
will gather up all the hair and put it somewhere so 
that we can get it." 



126 Zuni Folk Tales 

The Two promised that, and said : " Be sure to 
leave eight skins, will you ? and we will go to bed 
and rest ourselves." 

*' All right, all right ! " responded the Field-mice. 

So the brothers climbed up the hill to the town, 
and up the ladder, and slept in their room. 

The next morning the girl said : " Now, remem- 
ber, you will have to clean every skin and make it 
soft and white." 

So they went down to the river and started to 
work. The girl had said to them that at midday 
she would go down and see how they were getting 
along. They were at work nearly all the forenoon 
on the skins. While the elder brother shaved the 
hair off, the younger one scraped them thin and 
softened them. 

When the maiden came at noon, she said : " How 
are you getting along ? " 

" We have finished four and are at work on the 
fifth." 

" Remember," said she, " you must finish all of 
them today or I shall have to send you home." 

So they worked away until a little before the 
sun set, when she appeared again. They had just 
fmished the last. The Field-mice had carefully 
dressed all the others (they did it better than the 
men), and there they lay spread out on the sands 
like a great field of something growing, only 
white. 

When the maiden came down she was perfectly 
overcome ; she looked and looked and counted and 
recounted. She found them all there. Then she 



The Maiden of the Yellow Rocks 127 

got a long pole and fished in the water, but there 
were none. 

Said she : " Yes, you shall be my husbands ; I 
shall have to submit." 

She went home with them, and for a long time 
they all lived together, the woman with her two 
husbands. They managed to get along very com- 
fortably, and the two brothers did n't quarrel any 
more than they had done before. 

Finally, there were born little twin boys, exactly 
like their fathers, who were also twins, although 
one was called the elder and the other the younger. 

After a time the younger brother said : " Now, 
let us go home to our grandmother. People al- 
ways go home to their own houses and take their 
families with them." 

" No," said the elder one, " you must remember 
that we have been only pretending to be human 
beings. It would not do to take the maiden home 
with us." 

" Yes," said the other ; " I want her to go with 
us. Our grandmother kept making fun of us ; 
called us little, miserable, wretched creatures. I 
want to show her that we amount to something ! " 

The elder brother could not get the younger 
one to leave the wife behind, and like a dutiful 
wife she said : " I will go with you." They made 
up their bundles and started out. It was a very 
hot day, and when they had climbed nearly to the 
top of Thunder Mountain, the younger brother 
said : " Ahem ! I am tired. Let us sit down and 
rest. 



128 Zuni Folk Tales 

" It will not do," said the elder brother. " You 
know very well it will not do to sit down ; our 
father, the Sun, has forbidden that we should be 
among mortals. It will not do." 

" Oh, yes, it will ; we must sit down here," said 
the younger brother ; and again his wish prevailed 
and they sat down. 

At midday the Sun stood still in the sky, and 
looked down and saw this beautiful woman, and by 
the power of his withdrawing rays quickly snatched 
her from them while they were sitting there talking, 
she carrying her little children. 

The brothers looked around and said : " Where is 
our wife ? " 

" Ah, there she is," cried the younger ; " I will 
shoot her." 

" Shoot your wife ! " cried the elder brother. 
*' No, let her go ! Serves you right ! " 

" No," said the younger, " I will shoot her ! " 
He looked up and drew his arrow, and as his aim 
was absolutely unerring, swish went the arrow 
directly to her, and she was killed. The power of 
life by which the Sun was drawing her up was gone, 
the thread was cut, and she fell over and over and 
struck the earth. 

The two little children were so very small, and 
their bones so soft, that the fall did not hurt them 
much. They fell on the soft bank, and rolled and 
rolled down the hill, and the younger brother ran 
forward and caught them up in his arms, crying : 
" Oh, my little children ! " and brought them to the 
elder brother, who said : " Now, what can be done 



The Maiden of the Yellow Rocks 1 29 

with these little babies, with no mother, no 
food?" 

" We will take them home to grandmother," said 
the younger brother. 

" Your orrandmother cannot take care of these 
babies," said the elder brother. 

" Yes, she can, of course," said the younger 
brother. " Come on, come on ! I did n't want to 
lose my wife and children, too ; I thought I must 
still have the children ; that is the reason why I 
shot her." 

So one of them took one of the children, and the 
other one took the other, and they carried them up 
to the top of Thunder Mountain. 

"Now, then," said the elder brother, "we went 
off to marry ; we come home with no wife and two 
little children and with nothing to feed them." 

"Oh, grandmother!" called out the younger 
brother. 

The old woman had n't heard them for many a 
day, for many a month, even for years. She looked 
out and said : " My grandchildren are coming," and 
she called to them : " I am so glad you have come ! " 

" Here, see what we have," said the younger 
brother. " Here are your grandchildren. Come 
and take them ! " 

" Oh, you miserable boy, you are always doing 
something foolish ; where is your wife ? " asked the 
grandmother. 

" Oh, I shot her ! " was the response. 

" Why did you do that ? " 

" I did n't want my father, the Sun, to take them 



130 Zuni Folk Tales 

away with my wife. I knew you would not care 
anything about my wife, but I knew you would be 
very fond of the grandchildren. Here they are." 

But she would n't look at all. So the younger 
brother drew his face down, and taking the poor 
little children in his arms said : " You unnatural 
grandmother, you ! Here are two nice little grand- 
children for you ! " 

She said : " How shall I feed them ? or what 
shall I do with them ? " 

He replied : " Oh, take care of them, take care 
of them ! " 

She took a good look at them, and became a true 
grandmother. She ran and clasped the little ones, 
crying out : " Let me take you away from these 
miserable children of mine ! " She made some beds 
of sand for them, as Zuni mothers do today, got 
some soft skins for them to lie on, and fed them 
with a kind of milk made of corn toasted and 
ground and mixed with water ; so that they gradu- 
ally enlarged and grew up to be nice children. 

Thus it was in the days of the ancients, and has 
been told to us in these days, that even the most 
cruel and heartless of the gods do these things. 
Even they took these helpless children to their 
grandmother, and she succored them and brought 
them up to the time of reason. Therefore it is the 
duty of those who find helpless babies or children, 
inasmuch as they are not so cruel and terrible as 
were the Gods of War, — not nearly, — surely it is 
their duty to take those children and succor and 



The Maiden of the Yellow Rocks 131 

bring them up to the time of reason, when they can 
care for themselves. That is why our people, when 
children have been abandoned, provide and care for 
them as if they were their own. 
Thus long is my story. 



THE FOSTER-CHILD OF THE DEER 

ONCE, long, long ago, at Hawikuh, there lived 
a maiden most beautiful. In her earlier 
years .her father, who was a great priest, had 
devoted her to sacred things, and therefore he 
kept her always in the house secure from the gaze 
of all men, and thus she grew. 

She was so beautiful that when the Sun looked 
down along one of the straight beams of his own 
light, if one of those beams chanced to pass through 
a chink in the roof, the sky-hole, or the windows 
of the upper part of the maiden's room, he beheld 
her and wondered at her rare beauty, unable to 
compare it with anything he saw in his great 
journeys round about the worlds. Thus, as the 
maiden grew apace and became a young woman, 
the Sun loved her exceedingly, and as time went 
on he became so enamored of her that he de- 
scended to earth and entered on one of his own 
beams of light into her apartment, so that suddenly, 
while she was sitting one noon-day weaving pretty 
baskets, there stood before her a glorious youth, 
gloriously dressed. It was the Sun-father. He 
looked upon her gently and lovingly ; she looked 
upon him not fearfully : and so it came about that 
she loved him and he loved her, and he won her 
to be his wife. And many were the days in which 
he visited her and dwelt with her for a space at 
noon-time ; but as she was alone mostly, or as she 

132 



The Foster-Child of the Deer 133 

kept sitting weaving her trays when any one of the 
family entered her apartment, no one suspected this. 

Now, as she knew that she had been devoted to 
sacred things, and that if she explained how it was 
that she was a mother she would not be believed, 
she was greatly exercised in mind and heart. She 
therefore decided that when her child was born 
she would put it away from her. 

When the time came, the child one night was 
born. She carefully wrapped the little baby boy 
in some soft cotton-wool, and in the middle of the 
night stole out softly over the roof-tops, and, 
silently descending, laid the child on the sheltered 
side of a heap of refuse near the little stream that 
flows by Hawikuh, in the valley below. Then, 
mourning as a mother will mourn for her off- 
spring, she returned to her room and lay herself 
down, poor thing, to rest. 

As daylight was breaking in the east, and the 
hills and the valleys were coming forth one after 
another from the shadows of night, a Deer with 
her two little brightly-speckled fawns descended 
from the hills to the south across the valley, with 
ears and eyes alert, and stopped at the stream to 
drink. While drinking they were startled by an 
infant's cry, and, looking up, they saw dust and 
cotton-wool and other things flying about in the 
air, almost as if a little whirlwind were blowing 
on the site of the refuse-heap where the child had 
been laid. It was the child, who, waking and find- 
ing itself alone, hungry, and cold, was crying and 
throwing its little hands about. 



134 Zuni Folk Tales 

" Bless my delight ! " cried the Deer to her fawns. 
" I have this day found a waif, a child, and though 
it be human it shall be mine ; for, see, my chil- 
dren, I love you so much that surely I could love 
another." 

Thereupon she approached the little infant, and 
breathed her warm breath upon it and caressed it 
until it became quiet, and then after wrapping 
about it the cotton-wool, she gently lifted it on her 
broad horns, and, turning, carried it steadily away 
toward the south, followed on either side by her 
children, who kept crying out " Neh ! neh ! " in 
their delight. 

The home of this old Deer and her little ones, 
where all her children had been born for years, 
was south of Hawikuh, in the valley that turns off 
among the ledges of rocks near the little spring 
called Poshaan. There, in the shelter of a clump 
of pinon and cedar trees, was a soft and warm 
retreat, winter and summer, and this was the lair 
of the Deer and her young. 

The Deer was no less delighted than surprised 
next morning: to find that the infant had 2"rown 
apace, for she had suckled it with her own milk, 
and that before the declining of the sun it was al- 
ready creeping about. And greater was her sur- 
prise and delight, as day succeeded day, to find 
that the child grew even more swiftly than grow 
the children of the Deer. Behold ! on the evening 
of the fourth day it was running about and playing 
with its foster brother and sister. Nor was it slow 
of foot, even as compared with those little Deer. 



The Foster-Child of the Deer 135 

Behold ! yet greater cause for wonder, on the 
eighth day it was a youth fair to look upon — look- 
ing upon itself and seeing that it had no clothing, and 
wondering why it was not clothed, like its brother 
and sister, in soft warm hair with pretty spots upon it. 
As time went on, this little foster-child of the 
Deer (it must always be remembered that it was 
the offspring of the Sun-father himself), in playing 
with his brother and sister, and in his runnings 
about, grew wondrously strong, and even swifter 
of foot than the Deer themselves, and learned the 
language of the Deer and all their ways. 

When he had become perfected in all that a Deer 
should know, the Deer-mother led him forth into 
the wilds and made him acquainted with the great 
herd to which she belonged. They were exceed- 
ingly happy with this addition to their number; 
much they loved him, and so sagacious was the 
youth that he soon became the leader of the Deer 
of the Hawikuh country. 

When these Deer and the Antelopes were out 
on the mesas ranging to and fro, there at their 
head ran the swift youth. The soles of his feet 
became as hard as the hoofs of the Deer, the skin 
of his person strong and dark, the hair of his head 
long and waving and as soft as the hair on the 
sides of the Deer themselves. 

It chanced one morning, late that summer, that 
the uncle of the maiden who had cast away her 
child went out hunting, and he took his way south- 
ward past Poshaan, the lair of the Deer-mother 
and her foster-child. As he traversed the borders 



136 Zuni Folk Tales 

of the great mesas that lie beyond, he saw a vast 
herd of Deer gathered, as people gather in council. 
They were quiet and seemed to be listening in- 
tently to some one in their midst. The hunter 
stole along carefully on hands and knees, twisting 
himself among the bushes until he came nearer ; 
and what was his wonder when he beheld, in the 
midst of the Deer, a splendid youth, broad of 
shoulder, tall and strong of limb, sitting nude and 
graceful on the ground, and the old Deer and the 
young seemed to be paying attention to what he 
was saying. The hunter rubbed his eyes and 
looked again ; and again he looked, shading his 
eyes with his hands. Then he elevated himself to 
peer yet more closely, and the sharp eyes of the 
youth discovered him. With a shout he lifted him- 
self to his feet and sped away like the wind, fol- 
lowed by the whole herd, their hoofs thundering, 
and soon they were all out of sight. 

The hunter dropped his bow and stood there 
musing ; then picking it up, he turned himself about 
and ran toward Hawikuh as fast as he could. 
When he arrived he related to the father of the 
girl what he had seen. The old priest summoned 
his hunters and warriors and bade the uncle repeat 
the story. Many there were who said : " You have 
seen an apparition, and of evil omen to your family, 
alas ! alas ! " 

" No," said he, " I looked, and again I looked, 
and yet again, and again, and I avow to you that 
what I saw was as plain and as mortal as the Deer 
themselves." 



The Foster-Child of the Deer 137 

Convinced at last, the council decided to form 
a grand hunt, and word was given from the house- 
tops that on the fourth day from that day a hunt 
should be undertaken — that the southern mesa 
should be surrounded, and that the people should 
gather in from all sides and encompass the herd 
there, in order that this wonderful youth should not 
escape being seen, or possibly captured. 

Now, when the Deer had gone to a safe distance 
they slackened their pace and called to their leader 
not to fear. And the old foster-mother of the 
youth for the first time related to him, as she had 
related to them long ago, that he was the child of 
mortals, telling how she had found him. 

The youth sat with his head bowed, thinking of 
these things. Then he raised his head proudly, 
and said : " What though I be the child of mortals, 
they have not loved me : they have cast me from 
their midst, therefore will I be faithful to thee 
alone." 

But the old Deer-mother said to him : " Hush, 
my child ! Thou art but a mortal, and though thou 
might'st live on the roots of the trees and the 
bushes and plants that mature in autumn, yet 
surely in the winter time thou could'st not live, for 
my supply of milk will be withholden, and the 
fruits and the nuts will all be gone." 

And the older members of that large herd gath- 
ered round and repeated what she had been saying. 
And they said : " We are aware that we shall be 
hunted now, as is the invariable custom when our 
herd has been discovered, on the fourth day from 



138 Zuni Folk Tales 

the day on which we were first seen. Amongst 
the people who come there will be, no doubt, those 
who will seek you ; and you must not endeavor to 
escape. Even we ourselves are accustomed to 
give up our lives to the brave hunters among this 
people, for many of them are sacred of thought, 
sacred of heart, and make due sacrifices unto us, 
that our lives in other form may be spared un- 
ceasingly." 

A splendid Deer rose from the midst of the 
herd, and, coming forward, laid his cheek on the 
cheek of the boy, and said : " Yet we love you, but 
we must now part from you. And, in order that 
you may be like unto other mortals, only exceeding 
them, accompany me to the Land of the Souls of 
Men, where sit in council the Gods of the Sacred 
Dance and Drama, the Gods of the Spirit 
World." 

To all this the youth, being convinced, agreed. 
And on that same day the Deer who had spoken 
set forward, the swift youth running by his side, 
toward the Lake of the Dead. On and on they 
sped, and as night was falling they came to the 
borders of that lake, and the lights were shining 
over its middle and the Gardens of the Sacred 
Dance. And the old Drama-woman and the old 
Drama-man were walking on its shores, back and 
forth, calling across to each other. 

As the Deer neared the shore of the lake, he 
turned and said to his companion : " Step in boldly 
with me. Ladders of rushes will rise to receive 
you, and down underneath the waters into the 



The Foster-Child of the Deer 139 

great Halls of the Dead and of the Sacred Dance 
we will be borne gently and swiftly." 

Then they stepped into the lake. Brighter and 
lighter it grew. Great ladders of rushes and flags 
lifted themselves from the water, and upon them 
the Deer and his companion were borne downward 
into halls of splendor, lighted by many lights and 
fires. And in the largest chamber the gods were 
sitting in council silently. Pautiwa, the Sun-priest 
of the Sacred Drama {Kdkd), Shiilawitsi (the 
God of Fire), with his torch of ever-living flame, 
and many others were there ; and when the 
strangers arrived they greeted and were greeted, 
and were given a place in the light of the central 
fire. And in through the doors of the west and the 
north and the east and the south filed long rows of 
sacred dancers, those who had passed through the 
Lake of the Dead, clad in cotton mantles, white as 
the daylight, finely embroidered, decked with many 
a treasure shell and turquoise stone. These per- 
formed their sacred rites, to the delight of the gods 
and the wonder of the Deer and his foster-brother. 

And when the dancers had retired, Pautiwa, the 
Sun-priest of the Sacred Dance, arose, and said : 
" What would'st thou ? "—though he knew full well 
beforehand. "What would'st thou, oh. Deer of 
the forest mesas, with thy companion, thy foster- 
brother ; for not thinking of nothing would one 
visit the home of the Kdkdy 

Then the Deer lifted his head and told his story. 

" It is well," said the gods. 

"Appear, my faithful one," said Pautiwa to 



HO Zuni Folk Tales 

Shiilawitsi. And Shiilawitsi appeared and waved 
his flame around the youth, so that he became con- 
vinced of his mortal origin and of his dependence 
upon food prepared by fire. Then the gods who 
speak the speech of men gathered around and 
breathed upon the youth, and touched to his lips 
moisture from their own mouths, and touched the 
portals of his ears with oil from their own ears, and 
thus was the youth made acquainted with both the 
speech and the understanding of the speech of 
mortal man. Then the gods called out, and there 
were brought before them fine garments of white 
cotton embroidered in many colors, rare necklaces 
of sacred shell with many turquoises and coral-like 
stones and shells strung in their midst, and all that 
the most beautifully clad of our ancients could have 
glorified their appearance with. Such things they 
brought forth, and, making them into a bundle, 
laid them at the feet of the youth. Then they 
said : " Oh, youth, oh, brother and father, since 
thou art the child of the Sun, who is the father of us 
all, go forth with thy foster-brother to thy last meet- 
ing-place with him and with his people ; and when 
on the day after the morrow hunters shall gather 
from around thy country, some of ye, oh, Deer," 
said he, turning to the Deer, "yield thyselves up 
that ye may die as must thy kind ever continue 
to die, for the sake of this thy brother." 

" I will lead them," simply replied the Deer. 
"Thanks." 

And Pautiwa continued : " Here full soon wilt 
thou be o^athered in our midst, or with the winds 



The Foster-Child of the Deer 141 

and the mists of the air at night-time wih sport, 
ever-living. Go ye forth, then, carrying this bun- 
dle, and, as ye best know how, prepare this our 
father and child for his reception among men. 
And, O son and father," continued the priest-god, 
turning to the youth, " Fear not ! Happy wilt 
thou be in the days to come, and treasured among 
men. Hence thy birth. Return with the Deer 
and do as thou art told to do. Thy uncle, leading 
his priest-youths, will be foremost in the hunt. He 
will pursue thee and thy foster-mother. Lead 
him far away ; and when thou hast so led him, 
cease running and turn and wait, and peacefully go 
home whither he guides thee." 

The sounds of the Sacred Dance came in from 
the outer apartments, and the youth and the Deer, 
taking their bundle, departed. More quickly than 
they had come they sped away ; and on the morn- 
ing when the hunters of Hawikuh were setting 
forth, the Deer gathered themselves in a vast herd 
on the southern mesa, and they circled about 
the youth and instructed him how to unloose the 
bundle he had brought. Then closer and closer 
came the Deer to the youth and bade him stand 
in his nakedness, and they ran swiftly about him, 
breathing fierce, moist breaths until hot steam en- 
veloped him and bathed him from head to foot, so 
that he was purified, and his skin was softened, and 
his hair hung down in a smooth yet waving mass 
at the back of his head. Then the youth put on the 
costume, one article after another, he having seen 
them worn by the Gods of the Sacred Dance, and 



142 Zuni Folk Tales 

by the dancers ; and into his hair at the back, 
under the band which he placed round his temples, 
he thrust the grlowinof feathers of the macaw which 
had been given him. Then, seeing that there was 
still one article left, — a little string of conical 
shells, — he asked what that was for ; and the Deer 
told him to tie it about his knee. 

The Deer gfathered around him once more, and 
the old chief said : " Who among ye are willing 
to die ?" And, as if it were a festive occasion to 
which they were going, many a fine Deer bounded 
forth, striving for the place of those who were to 
die, until a large number were gathered, fearless 
and ready. Then the Deer began to move. 

Soon there was an alarm. In the north and 
the west and the south and the east there was 
cause for alarm. And the Deer began to scatter, 
and then to assemble and scatter again. At last 
the hunters with drawn bows came running in, and 
soon their arrows were flying in the midst of those 
who were devoted, and Deer after Deer fell, pierced 
to the heart or other vital part. 

At last but few were left, — amongst them the 
kind old Deer-mother and her two children ; and, 
taking the lead, the glorious youth, although en- 
cumbered by his new dress, sped forth with them. 
They ran and ran, the fleetest of the tribe of 
Hawikuh pursuing them ; but all save the uncle 
and his brave sons were soon left far behind. 
The youth's foster-brother was soon slain, and the 
youth, growing angry, turned about ; then bethink- 
ing himself of the words of the gods, he sped away 



The Foster-Child of the Deer 143 

again. So his foster-sister, too, was killed ; but he 
kept on, his old mother alone running behind 
him. At last the uncle and his sons overtook the 
old mother, and they merely caught her and turned 
her away, saying : " Faithful to the last she has 
been to this youth." Then they renewed the chase 
for the youth ; and he at last, pretending weari- 
ness, faced about and stood like a stag at bay. As 
soon as they approached, he dropped his arms and 
lowered his head. Then he said : " Oh, my uncle " 
(for the gods had told who would find him) — " Oh, 
my uncle, what wouldst thou ? Thou hast killed 
my brothers and sisters ; what wouldst thou with 
me i 

The old man stopped and gazed at the youth 
in wonder and admiration of his fine appearance 
and beautiful apparel. Then he said : " Why dost 
thou call me uncle ? " 

" Because, verily," replied the youth, "thou art 
my uncle, and thy niece, my maiden-mother, gave 
birth to me and cast me away upon a dust-heap ; 
and then my noble Deer found me and nourished 
me and cherished me." 

The uncle and his sons gazed still with wonder. 
Then they thought they saw in the youth's clear 
eyes and his soft, oval face a likeness to the mother, 
and they said : " Verily, this which he says is true." 
Then they turned about and took him by the hands 
gently and led him toward Hawikuh, while one 
of them sped forward to test the truth of his 
utterances. 

When the messenger arrived at Hawikuh he took 



144 Zuni Folk Tales 

his way straight to the house of the priest, and 
told him what he had heard. The priest in anger 
summoned the maiden. 

"Oh, my child," said he, "hast thou done this 
thing which we are told thou hast done ? " And 
he related what he had been told. 

" Nay, no such thing have I done," said 
she. 

" Yea, but thou hast, oh, unnatural mother ! 
And who was the father ? " demanded the old priest 
wrth great severity. 

Then the maiden, thinking of her Sun-lover, 
bowed her head in her lap and rocked herself to 
and fro, and cried sorely. And then she said : 
" Yea, it is true ; so true that I feared thy wrath, oh, 
my father ! I feared thy shame, oh, my mother ! 
and what could I do ? " Then she told of her 
lover, the Sun, — with tears she told it, and she 
cried out : " Bring back my child that I may nurse 
him and love but him alone, and see him the father 
of children ! " 

By this time the hunters arrived, some bringing 
game, but others bringing in their midst this won- 
drous youth, on whom each man and maiden in 
Hawikuh gazed with delight and admiration. 

They took him to the home of his priest-grand- 
father ; and as though he knew the way he entered 
the apartment of his mother, and she, rising and 
opening wide her arms, threw herself on his breast 
and cried and cried. And he laid his hand on her 
head, and said : " Oh, mother, weep not, for I have 
come to thee, and I will cherish thee. 



The Foster-Child of the Deer 145 

So was the foster-child of the Deer restored to 
his mother and his people. 

Wondrously wise in the ways of the Deer and 
their language was he — so much so that, seeing 
them, he understood them. This youth made 
little ado of hunting, for he knew that he could 
pay those rites and attentions to the Deer that 
were most acceptable, and made them glad of 
death at the hand of the hunter. And ere long, so 
great was his knowledge and success, and his pre- 
ciousness in the eyes of the Master of Life, that 
by his will and his arm alone the tribe of Hawikuh 
was fed and was clad in buckskins. 

A rare and beautiful maiden he married, and 
most happy was he with her. 

It was his custom to go forth early in the morn- 
ing, when the Deer came down to drink or stretch 
themselves and walk abroad and crop the grass ; 
and, taking his bow and quiver of arrows, he would 
go to a distant mesa, and, calling the Deer around 
him, and following them as swiftly as they ran, he 
would strike them down in great numbers, and, re- 
turning, say to his people : " Go and bring in my 
game, giving me only parts of what I have slain 
and taking the rest yourselves." 

So you can readily see how he and his people 
became the greatest people of Hawikuh. Nor is 
it marvellous that the sorcerers of that tribe should 
have grown envious of his prosperity, and sought 
to diminish it in many ways, wherein they failed. 

At last one niorht the Master of Sorcerers 
in secret places raised his voice and cried : 



146 Zuni Folk Tales 

''Weh-k-h-h! Weh-h-h-h-h-h ! '' And round about 
him presently gathered all the sorcerers of the 
place, and they entered into a deep cavern, large 
and lighted by green, glowing fires, and there, star- 
ing at each other, they devised means to destroy 
this splendid youth, the child of the Sun. 

One of their number stood forth and said : " I 
will destroy him in his own vocation. He is a 
hunter, and the Coyote loves well to follow the 
hunter." His words were received with acclama- 
tion, and the youth who had offered himself sped 
forth in the night to prepare, by incantation and 
with his infernal appliances, a disguise for himself. 

On the next morning, when the youth went forth 
to hunt, an old Coyote sneaked behind him after 
he reached the mesas, and, following stealthily, 
waited his throwing down of the Deer ; and when 
the youth had called and killed a number of Deer 
and sat down to rest on a fallen tree, the Coyote 
sneaked into sight. The youth, looking at him, 
merely thought : " He seeks the blood of my slain 
Deer," and he went on with his prayers and sacri- 
fices to the dead of the Deer. But soon, stiffen- 
ing his limbs, the Coyote swiftly scudded across the 
open, and, with a puff from his mouth and nostrils 
like a sneeze toward the youth, threw himself 
against him and arose a man, — the same man who 
had offered his services in the council of the wiz- 
ards — while the poor youth, falling over, ran away, 
a human being still in heart and mind, but in form 
a coyote. 

Off to the southward he wandered, his tail drag- 



The Foster-Child of the Deer 147 

ging in the dust ; and growing hungry he had 
naup-ht to eat ; and cold on the sides of the mesas 
he passed the night, and on the following morning 
wandered still, until at last, very hungry, he was 
fain even to nip the blades of grass and eat the 
berries of the juniper. Thus he became ill and 
worn ; and one night as he was seeking a warm 
place to lay him down and die, he saw a little red 
light glowing from the top of a hillock. Toward 
this light he took his way, and when he came near 
he saw that it was shining up through the sky-hole 
of someone's house. He peered over the edge 
and saw an old Badger with his grizzly wife, sit- 
ting before a fire, not in the form of a badger but 
in the form of a little man, his badger-skin hanging 
beside him. 

Then the youth said to himself : " I will cast 
myself down into their house, thus showing them 
my miserable condition." And as he tried to step 
down the ladder, he fell, teng, on the floor before 
them. 

The Badgers were disgusted. They grabbed 
the Coyote, and hauling him up the ladder, threw 
him into the plain, where, toonoo, he fell far away 
and swooned from loss of breath. When he re- 
covered his thoughts he again turned toward the 
glowing sky-hole, and, crawling feebly back, threw 
himself down into the room again. Again he 
was thrown out, but this time the Badger said : 
"It is marvellously strange that this Coyote, the 
miserable fellow, should insist on coming back, 
and coming back." 



148 Zuni Folk Tales 

" I have heard," said the little old Badger- 
woman, " that our glorious beloved youth of Ha- 
wikuh was changed some time ago into a Coyote. 
It may be he. Let us see when he comes again 
if it be he. For the love of mercy, let us 
see ! 

Ere long the youth again tried to clamber down 
the ladder, and fell with a thud on the floor before 
them. A long time he lay there senseless, but at 
last opened his eyes and looked about. The 
Badgers eagerly asked if he were the same who 
had been changed into a Coyote, or condemned 
to inhabit the form of one. The youth could only 
move his head in acquiescence. 

Then the Badgers hastily gathered an emetic 
and set it to boil, and when ready they poured the 
fluid down the throat of the seeming Coyote, and 
tenderly held him and pitied him. Then they 
laid him before the fire to warm him. Then the 
old Badger, looking about in some of his burrows, 
found a sacred rock crystal, and heating it to 
glowing heat in the fire, he seared the palms of 
the youth's hands, the soles of his feet, and the 
crown of his head, repeating incantations as he 
performed this last operation, whereupon the skin 
burst and fell off, and the youth, haggard and lean, 
lay before them. They nourished him as best 
they could, and, when well recovered, sent him home 
to join his people again and render them happy. 
Clad in his own fine garments, happy of counte- 
nance and handsome as before, and, according to 
his regular custom, bearing a Deer on his back. 



The Foster-Child of the Deer 149 

returned the youth to his people, and there he 
Hved most happily. 

As I have said, this was in the days of the ancients, 
and it is because this youth lived so long with the 
Deer and became acquainted with their every way 
and their every word, and taught all that he knew 
to his children and to others whom he took into 
his friendship, that we have today a class of men — 
the Sacred Hunters of our tribe, — who surpassingly 
understand the ways and the language of the Deer. 

Thus shortens my story. 





THE BOY HUNTER WHO NEVER 

SACRIFICED TO THE DEER 

HE HAD SLAIN : 

OR THE ORIGIN OF THE SOCIETY OF RATTLESNAKES 

IN very ancient times, there lived at Ta'ia/ below 
the Zuni Mountains, an old shiwani or priest- 
chief, who had a young son named Heasailuhtiwa 
(" Metal-hand "), famed throughout the land of the 
Zuiiis for his success in hunting. 

When very young, this lad had said to his 
parents : " My old ones, let me go away from the 
home of my fathers and dwell by myself." 

" Why do you, a young boy, wish to go and 
dwell by yourself, my son ? Know you not that 
you would fare but badly, for you are careless and 
forgetful ? No, no ! remain with us, that we may 
care for you." 

But the boy answered : " Why should I fare 
badly ? Can I not hunt my own game and roast 
the meat over the fire? It is because you never 
care to have me go forth alone that I wish to live 
by myself, for I long to travel far and hunt deer in 
the mountains of many countries : yet whenever I 
start forth you call me back, and it is painful to 
my longing thoughts thus to be held back when I 
would go forward." 

It was not until the lad had spoken thus again 

' The native name of the Zuni town of Las Nutrias. 
150 



The Boy Hunter 



i=;i 



and again, and once more, that the parents sadly 
yielded to his wish. They insisted, however, much 
to the boy's displeasure, that his younger sister, 
Waiasialuhtitsa, should go with him, only to look 
after his house, and to remind him here and there, 
at times, of his forgetfulness. So the brother and 
sister chose the lofty rooms of a high house in the 
upper part of the pueblo and lived there. 

The boy each day went out hunting and failed 
not each time to bring in slain animals, while the 
sister cooked for him and looked after the house. 
Yet, although the boy was a great hunter, he never 
sacrificed to the Deer he had slain, nor to the Gods 
of Prey who delight in aiding the hunter who re- 
news them ; for the lad was forgetful and careless 
of all things. 

One day he went forth over the mountain toward 
the north, until he came to the Waters of the Bear. ^ 
There he started up a huge Buck, and, finding the 
trail, followed it far toward the northward. Yet, 
although swift of foot, the youth could not over- 
take the running Deer, and thus it happened that 
he went on and on, past mesas, valleys, and moun- 
tains, until he came to the brink of a great river 
which flows westwardly from the north. ~ On the 
banks of this orreat river grrew forests of cotton- 
wood, and into the thickets of these forests led 
the trail, straight toward the river bank. Just as 
the young man was about to follow the track to the 

' Ainshik'yanakwin, or Bear Spring, where Fort Wingate now stands. 
' Probably Green River, or some important tributary of the Colorado 
Grande. 



152 Zuni Folk Tales 

bank, he thought he saw under a large tree in the 
midst of the thickets the form of the Deer, so, 
bending very low, he ran around close to the bank, 
and came up between the river and the thicket. 

As he guardedly approached the tree, his eyes 
now following the track, now glancing up, he dis- 
covered a richly dressed, handsome young man, 
who called out to him : " How art thou these days, 
and whither art thou going ? " 

The young man straightened up, and quickly 
drawing his breath, replied : " I am hunting a Deer 
whose tracks I have followed all the way from the 
Waters of the Bear." 

" Indeed ! " exclaimed the stranger, "and where 
has thy Deer gone?" 

" I know not," replied the youth, " for here are 
his tracks." Then he observed that they led to 
the place where the stranger was sitting, and the 
latter at the same time remarked : 

" I am the Deer, and it was as I would have it 
that I enticed thee hither." 

" Hai-i / " exclaimed the young man. 

" Aye," continued the stranger. " Alas ! alas ! 
thou forgetful one ! Thou hast day after day 
chased my children over the plains and slain 
them ; thou hast made thyself happy of their flesh, 
and of their flesh added unto thine own meat and 
that of thy kindred ; but, alas ! thou hast been 
forgetful and careless, and not once hast thou 
given unto their souls the comfort of that which 
they yearn for and need. Yet hast thou had 
good fortune in the chase. At last the Sun- 



The Boy Hunter 153 

father has Hstened to the supphcations of my 
children and commanded that I bring- thee here, 
and here have I brought thee. Listen ! The 
Sun-father commands that thou shah visit him 
in his house at the western end of the world, and 
these are his instructions." 

"Indeed! Well, I suppose it must be, and it 
is well ! " exclaimed the young man. 

" And," continued the Deer-being, " thou must 
hasten home and call thy father. Tell him to 
summon his Pithlan Shlzuani (Priest of the Bow, 
or Warrior) and command him that he shall in- 
struct his children to repair to the rooms of sacred 
things and prepare plumed prayer-sticks for the 
Sun-father, the Moon-mother, and the Great 
Ocean, and red plumes of sacrifice for the Beings 
of Prey ; that fully they must prepare everything, 
for thou, their child and father, shalt visit the 
home of the Sun-father, and in payment for thy 
forgetfulness and carelessness shalt render him, 
and the Moon-mother, and the Beings of the 
Great Ocean, plumes of sacrifice. Hasten home, 
and tell thy father these things. Then tell thy 
sister to prepare sweetened meal of parched corn 
to serve as the food of thy journey, and pollen of 
the flowers of corn ; and ask thy mother to pre- 
pare great quantities of new cotton, and, making 
all these things into bundles, thou must sum- 
mon some of thy relatives, and come to this tree 
on the fourth day from this day. Make haste, 
for thou art swift of foot, and tell all these 
things to thy father ; he will understand thee, for 



154 Zuni Folk Tales 

is he not a priest-chief? Hast thou knives of 
flint?" 

"Yes," said the young man, "my father has 
many." 

" Select from them two," said the Deer-beino- — 
" a large one and a smaller one ; and when thou 
hast returned to this place, cut down with the 
larger knife yonder great tree, and with the 
smaller knife hollow it out. Leave the large end 
entire, and for the smaller end thou must make 
a round door, and around the inside of the smaller 
end cut a notch that shall be like a terrace toward 
the outside, but shall slope from within that thou 
mayest close it from the inside with the round door ; 
then pad the inside with cotton, and make in the 
bottom a padding thicker than the rest ; but leave 
space that thou mayest lie thy length, or sit up 
and eat. And in the top cut a hole larger inside 
than out, that thou mayest close it from the inside 
with a plug of wood. Then when thou hast placed 
the sweetened meal of parched corn inside, and 
the plumed prayer-sticks and the sacred pollen of 
corn-flowers, then enter thyself and close the door 
in the end and the hole in the top that thy people 
may roll thee into the river. Thou wilt meet 
strange beings on thy way. Choose from amongst 
them whom thou shalt have as a companion, and 
proceed, as thy companion shall direct, to the 
great mountain where the Sun enters. Haste 
and tell thy father these things." And ere the 
youth could say, " Be it well," and, " I will," 
the Deer-being had vanished, and he lifted up 



The Boy Hunter 155 

his face and started swiftly for the home of his 
fathers. 

At sunset the sister looked forth from her hiprh 
house-top, but nowhere could she see her brother 
coming. She turned at last to enter, thinking and 
saying to her breast : " Alas ! what did we not think 
and guess of his carelessness." But just as the 
country was growing dim in the darkness, the 
young man ran breathlessly in, and, greeting his 
sister, sat down in the doorway. 

The sister wondered that he had no deer or 
other game, but placed a meal before him, and, 
when he had done, herself ate. But the young 
man remained silent until she had finished, then 
he said : " Younger sister, I am weary and would 
sit here ; do you go and call father, for I would 
speak to him of many things." 

So the sister cleared away the food and ran to 
summon the father. Soon she returned with the 
old man, who, sighing, ''Ha huaf' from the effort 
of climbing, greeted his son and sat down, looking 
all about the room for the fresh deer-meat ; but, 
seeing none, he asked : " What and wherefore hast 
thou summoned me, my son ?" 

" It is this," replied the son, and he related all 
that had been told him by the Deer-being, describ- 
ing the magnificent dress, the turquoise and shell 
ear-rings, necklaces, and wristlets of the handsome 
stranger. 

" Certainly," replied the father. " It is well ; for 
as the Sun-father hath directed the Deer-being, 
thus must it be done." 



156 Zuni Folk Tales 

Then he forthwith went away and commanded 
his Priest of the Bow, who, mounting to the top- 
most house, directed the elders and priests of the 
tribe, saying : 

" Ye, our children, listen ! 
Ye I will this day inform, 
Our child, our father. 
He of the strong hand. 
He who so hunts the Deer, 
Goes unto the Sunset world, 
Goes, our Sun-father to greet ; 
Gather at the sacred houses. 
Bring thy prayer-sticks, twines, and feathers, 
And prepare for him, — 
For the Sun-father, 
For the Moon-mother, 
For the Great Ocean, 

For the Prey-beings, plumes and treasures. 
Hasten, hasten, ye our children, in the morning ! " 

So the people gathered in the kiwetsiwe and 
sacred houses next morning and began to make 
prayer-plumes, while the sister of the young man 
and her relatives made sweet parched cornmeal and 
gathered pollen. Toward evening all was com- 
pleted. The young man summoned his relatives, 
and chose his four uncles to accompany him. Then 
he spread enough cotton-wool out to cover the 
floor, and, gathering it up, made it into a small 
bundle. The sweet meal filled a large sack of 
buckskin, and he took also a little sack of sacred red 
paint and the black warrior paint with little shining 
particles in it. Then he bade farewell to his la- 
menting people and rested for the evening journey. 



The Boy Hunter 157 

Next morning, escorted by priests, the young 
man, arrayed in garments of embroidered white 
cotton and carrying his phimes in his arms, started 
out of the town, and, accompanied only by his four 
uncles, set out over the mountains. On the third 
day they reached the forest on the bank of the 
great river and encamped. 

Then the young man left the camp of his uncles 
and went alone into the forest, and, choosine the 
greatest tree he could find, hacked midway through 
it with his great flint knife. The next day he cut 
the other half and felled it, when he found it partly 
hollow. So with his little knife he began to cut it 
as he had been directed, and made the round door 
for it and the hole through the top. With his 
bundle of cotton he padded it everywhere inside 
until it was thickly coated and soft, and he made a 
bed on the bottom as thick as himself. 

When all was ready and he had placed his food 
and plumes inside, he called his uncles and showed 
them the hollow log. " In this," said he, " I am 
to journey to the western home of our Sun-father. 
When I have entered and closed the round door 
tightly and put the plug into the upper hole se- 
curely, do ye, never thinking of me, roll the log 
over and over to the high brink of the river, 
and, never regarding consequences, push it into 
the water." 

Then it was that the uncles all lamented and 
tried to dissuade him ; but he persisted, and 
they bade him "Go," as forever, "for," said they, 
" could one think of journeying even to the end of 



158 Zuni Folk Tales 

the earth and across the waters that embrace the 
world without perishing ? " 

Then, hastily embracing each of them, the young 
man entered his log, and, securely fastening the 
door from the inside, and the plug, called out (they 
heard but faintly), '' Kesz /" which, means " All is 
ready." 

Sorrowfully and gently they rolled the log over 
and over to the high river bank, and, hesitating a 
moment, pushed it off with anxious eyes and closed 
mouths into the river. Eagerly they watched it 
as it tumbled end-over-end and down into the water 
with a great splash, and disappeared under the 
waves, which rolled one after another across to the 
opposite banks of the river. But for a long time 
they saw nothing of it. After a while, far off, 
speeding on toward the Western Waters of the 
World, they saw the log rocking along on the rush- 
ing waters until it passed out of sight, and they 
sadly turned toward their homes under the Moun- 
tains of the South. 

When the log had ceased rocking and plunging, 
the young man cautiously drew out the plug, and, 
finding that no water flowed in, peered out. A ray 
of sunlight slanted in, and by that he knew it was 
not yet midday, and he could see a round piece of 
sky and clouds through the hole. By-and-by the 
ray of sunlight came straight down, and then after 
a while slanted the other way, and finally toward 
evening it ceased to shine in, and then the youth 
took out some of his meal and ate his supper. 
When after a while he could see the stars, and later 



The Boy Hunter 159 

the Hanging Lines [the sword-belt of Orion], he 
knew it was time to rest, so he lay down to sleep. 

Thus, day after day, he travelled until he knew he 
was out on the Great Waters of the World, for no 
longer did his log strike against anything or whirl 
around, nor could he see, through the chink, leaves 
of overhanging trees, nor rocks and banks of earth. 
On the tenth morning, when he looked up through 
the hole, he saw that the clouds did not move, and 
wondering at this, kicked at his log, but it would 
not move. Then he peered out as far as he could 
and saw rocks and trees. When he tried to rock 
his log, it remained firm, so he determined to open 
the door at the end. 

Now, in reality, his log had been cast high up on 
the shore of a great mountain that rose out of the 
waters ; and this mountain was the home of the 
Rattlesnakes. A Rattlesnake maiden was roaming 
along the shore just as the young man was about 
to open the door of his log. She espied the curious 
vessel, and said to herself in thought : " What may 
this be ? Ah, yes, and who ? Ah, yes, the mortal 
who was to come ; it must be he ! " Whereupon 
she hastened to the shore and tapped on the log. 

" Art thou come ?" she asked. 

" Aye," replied the youth. " Who may you be, 
and where am I ? " 

" You are landed on the Island of the Rattle- 
snakes, and I am one of them. The other side of 
the mountain here is where our village is. Come 
out and go with me, for my old ones have expected 
you long." 



i6o Zuni Folk Tales 

" Is it dry, surely?" asked the young man. 

" Why, yes ! Here you are high above the waters." 

Thereupon the young man opened from the in- 
side his door, and peered out. Surely enough, 
there he was high among the rocks and sands. 
Then he looked at the Rattlesnake maiden, and 
scarcely believed she was what she called herself, 
for she was a most beautiful young woman, and 
like a daughter of men. Yet around her waist — 
she was dressed in cotton mantles — was girt a rat- 
tlesnake-skin which was open at the breast and on 
the crown of the head. 

" Come with me," said the maiden ; and she led 
the way over the mountain and across to a deep 
valley, where terrible Serpents writhed and gleamed 
in the sunlight so thickly that they seemed, with 
their hissing and rattling, like a dry mat shaken by 
the wind. The youth drew back in horror, but the 
maiden said : " Fear not ; they will neither harm 
you nor frighten you more, for they are my people." 
Whereupon she commanded them to fall back and 
make a pathway for the young man and herself ; 
and they tamely obeyed her commands. Through 
the opening thus made they passed down to a 
cavern, on entering which they found a great room. 
There were great numbers of Rattlesnake people, 
old and young, gathered in council, for they knew 
of the coming of the young man. Around the 
walls of their houses were many pegs and racks 
with serpent skins hanging on them — skins like the 
one the young girl wore as a girdle. The elders 
arose and greeted the youth, saying : " Our child 



The Boy Hunter i6i 

and our father, comest thou, comest thou happily 
these many days ? " 

"Aye, happily," replied the youth. 

And after a feast of strange food had been 
placed before the young man, and he had eaten a 
little, the elders said to him : " Knowest thou 
whither thou goest, that the way is long and fear- 
ful, and to mortals unknown, and that it will be 
but to meet with poverty that thou journeyest 
alone ? Therefore have we assembled to await 
thy coming and in order that thou shouldst jour- 
ney preciously, we have decided to ask thee to 
choose from amongst us whom thou shalt have for 
a companion." 

" It is well, my fathers," said the young man, 
and, casting his eyes about the council to find 
which face should be kindest to him, he chose the 
maiden, and said : " Let it be this one, for she 
found me and loved me in that she gently and 
without fear brought me into your presence." 

And the girl said : " It is'well, and I will go." 

Instantly the grave and dignified elders, the 
happy-faced youths and maidens, the kind-eyed 
matrons, all reached up for their serpent skins, and, 
passing them over their persons, — lo ! in the time 
of the telling of it, the whole place was filled with 
writhing and hissing Serpents and the din of their 
rattles. In horror the young man stood against 
the wall like a hollow stalk, and the Serpent 
maiden, going to each of the members of the coun- 
cil, extracted from each a single fang, which she 
wrapped together in a piece of fabric, until she 



i62 Zuni Folk Tales 

had a great bundle. Then she passed her hand 
over her person, and lo ! she became a beautiful 
human maiden again, holding in her hand a rattle- 
snake skin. Then taking up the bundle of fangs, 
she said to the young man : " Come, for I know the 
way and will guide you," — and the young man fol- 
lowed her to the shore where his log lay. 

" Now," said she, " wait while I fix this log anew, 
that it may be well," and she bored many little 
holes all over the log, and into these holes she in- 
serted the crooked fangs, so that they all stood 
slanting toward the rear, like the spines on the 
back of a porcupine. 

When she had done this, she said : " First I will 
enter, for there may not be room for two, and in 
order that I may make myself like the space I en- 
ter, I will lay on my dress again. Do you, when I 
have entered, enter also, and with your feet kick 
the log down to the shore waters, when you must 
quickly close the door and the waters will take us 
abroad upon themselves." 

In an instant she had passed into her serpent 
form again and crawled into the log. The young 
man did as he was bidden, and as he closed the 
door a wave bore them gently out upon the waters. 
Then, as the young man turned to look upon his com- 
panion coiled so near him, he drew back in horror. 

" Why do you fear ?" asked the Rattlesnake. 

" I know not, but I fear you ; perhaps, though 
you speak gently, you will, when I sleep, bite me 
and devour my flesh, and it is with thoughts of this 
that I have fear." 



The Boy Hunter 163 

"Ah, no!" repHed the maiden, "but, that you 
may not fear, I will change myself." And so say- 
ing, she took off her skin, and, opening the upper 
part of the door, hung the skin on the fangs out- 
side. 

Finally, toward noon-time, the youth prepared 
his meal food, and placing some before the maiden, 
asked her to eat. 

" Ah, no ! alas, I know not the food of mortals. 
Have you not with you the yellow dust of the 
corn-flower ? " 

" Aye, that I have," said the young man, and 
producing a bag, opened it and asked the girl : 
" How shall I feed it to you ? " 

" Scatter it upon the cotton, and by my knowl- 
edge I will gather it." 

Then the young man scattered a great quantity 
on the cotton, wondering how the girl would gather 
it up. But the maiden opened the door, and taking 
down the skin changed herself to a serpent, and 
passing to and fro over the pollen, received it all 
within her scales. Then she resumed her human 
form again and hung the skin up as before. 

Thus they floated until they came to the great 
forks of the Mighty Waters of the World, and 
their floating log was guided into the southern 
branch. And on they floated toward the westward 
for four months from the time when the uncles had 
thrown him into the river. 

One day the maiden said to the youth : " We 
are nearing our journey's end, and, as I know the 
way, I will guide you. Hold yourself hard and 



i64 Zuni Folk Tales 

ready, for the waters will cast our house high upon 
the shores of the mountain wherein the Sun enters, 
and these shores are inaccessible because so 
smooth." 

Then the log was cast high above the slippery- 
bank, and when the waters receded there it re- 
mained, for the fangs grappled it fast. 

Then said the maiden : " Let us now o-o out. 
Fear not for your craft, for the fangs will hold it 
fast ; it matters little how high the waves may roll, 
or how steep and slippery the bank." 

Then, taking in his arms the sacred plumes 
which his people had prepared for him, he followed 
the girl far up to the doorway in the Mountain of 
the Sea. Out of it grew a great ladder of giant 
rushes, by the side of which stood an enormous 
basket-tray. Very fast approached the Sun, and 
soon the Sun-father descended the ladder, and 
the two voyagers followed down. They were 
gently greeted by a kind old woman, the grand- 
mother of the Sun, and were given seats at one 
side of a great and wonderfully beautiful room. 

Then the Sun-father approached some pegs in 
the wall and from them suspended his bow and 
quiver, and his bright sun-shield, and his wonderful 
travelling dress. Behold ! there stood, kindly smil- 
ing before the youth and maiden, the most mag- 
nificent and gentle of beings in the world — the 
Sun-father. 

Then the Sun-father greeted them, and, turning 
to a great package which he had brought in, opened 
it and disclosed thousands of shell beads, red and 



The Boy Hunter 165 

white, and thousands more of brilHant turquoises. 
These he poured into the great tray at the door- 
side, and gave them to the grandmother, who 
forthwith began to sort them with great rapidity. 
But, ere she had done, the Sun-father took them 
from her ; part of them he took out with unerring 
judgment and cast them abroad into the great 
waters as we cast sacred prayer-meal. The others 
he brought below and gave them to the grand- 
mother for safe-keeping. 

Then he turned once more to the youth and 
the maiden, and said to the former : " So thou hast 
come, my child, even as I commanded. It is well, 
and I am thankful." Then, in a stern and louder 
voice, which yet sounded like the voice of a father, 
he asked : " Hast thou brought with thee that 
whereby we are made happy with our children ? " 
And the young man said : " Aye, I have." 
"It is well ; and if it be well, then shalt thou 
precious be ; for knowest thou not that I recognize 
the really good from the evil, — even of the thoughts 
of men, — and that I know the prayer and sacrifice 
that is meant, from the words and treasures of 
those who do but lie in addressing them to me, 
and speak and act as children in a joke ? Behold 
the treasure which I brought with me from the 
cities of mankind today ! Some of them I cherished 
preciously, for they are the gifts to me of good hearts 
and I treasure them that I may return them in 
ofood fortune and blessing to those who i^ave them. 
But some thou sawest I cast abroad into the ereat 
waters that they may again be gathered up and 



i66 Zuni Folk Tales 

presented to me ; for they were the gifts of double 
and foolish hearts, and as such cannot be treasured 
by me nor returned unto those who gave them. 
Bring forth, my child, the plumes and gifts thou 
hast brought. Thy mother dwelleth in the next 
room, and when she appeareth in this, thou shalt 
with thine own hand present to her thy sacrifice." 
So the youth, bowing his head, unwrapped his 
bundle and laid before the Sun-father the plumes 
he had brought. And the Sun-father took them 
and breathed upon them and upon the youth, and 
said: "Thanks, this day. Thou hast straightened 
thy crooked thoughts." 

And when the beautiful Mother of Men, the 
Moon-mother — the wife of the Sun-father — 
appeared, the boy placed before her the plumes he 
had brought, and she, too, breathed upon them, and 
said : " Thanks, this day," even as the Sun-father had. 

Then the Sun-father turned to the youth and 
said : " Thou shalt join me in my journey round 
the world, that thou mayest see the towns and na- 
tions of mankind — my children ; that thou mayest 
realize how many are my children. Four days 
shalt thou join me in my journeyings, and then 
shalt thou return to the home of thy fathers." 

And the young man said: " It is well !" but he 
turned his eyes to the maiden. 

" Fear not, my child," added the Father, " she 
shall sit preciously in my house until we have 
returned." 

And after they had feasted, the Sun-father 
again enrobed himself, and the youth he dressed 



The Boy Hunter 167 

in appearance as he himself was dressed. Then, 
taking the sun-dress from the wall, he led the way 
down through the four great apartments of the 
world, and came out into the Lower Country of 
the Earth. 

Behold ! as they entered that great world, it was 
filled with snow and cold below, and the tracks of 
men led out over great white plains, and as they 
passed the cities of these nether countries people 
strange to see were clearing away the snow from 
their housetops and doorways. 

And so they journeyed to the other House of 
the Sun, and, passing up through the four great 
rooms, entered the home of the aunts of the Sun- 
father ; and here, too, the young man presented 
plumes of prayer and sacrifice to the inmates, and 
received their thanks and blessings. 

Again they started together on their journey; 
and behold ! as they came out into the World of 
Daylight, the skies below them were filled with 
the rain of summer-time. 

Across the great world they journeyed, and they 
saw city after city of men, and many tribes of 
strange peoples. Here they were engaged in wars 
and in wasting the lives of one another ; there they 
were dying of famine and disease ; and more of 
misery and poverty than of happiness saw the 
young man among the nations of men. " For," 
said the Sun-father, " these be, alas ! my children, 
who waste their lives in foolishness, or slay one 
another in useless anger ; yet they are brothers to 
one another, and I am the father of all." 



i68 Zuni Folk Tales 

Thus journeyed they four days ; and each eve- 
ning when they returned to the home where the 
Sun-father enters, he gave to his grandmother 
the great package of treasure which his children 
among men had sacrificed to him, and each day he 
cast the treasures of the bad and double-hearted 
into the crreat waters. 

On the fourth day, when they had entered the 
western home of the Sun-father, said the latter to 
the youth : " Thy task is meted out and finished ; 
thou shalt now return unto the home of thy fathers 
— my children below the mountains of Shiwina. 
How many days, thinkest thou, shalt thou journey ? " 

" Many days more than ten," replied the youth 
with a sigh. 

"Ah! no, my child," said the Sun-father. 
" Listen ; thou shalt in one day reach the banks of 
the river whence thou camest. Listen ! Thou shalt 
take this, my shaft of strong lightning ; thou shalt 
grasp its neck with firm hands, and as thou ex- 
tendest it, it will stretch out far to thy front and 
draw thee more swiftly than the arrow's flight 
through the water. Take with thee this quiver of 
unerring arrows, and this strong bow, that by their 
will thou mayest seek life ; but forget not thy sacri- 
fices nor that they are to be made with true word 
and a faithful heart. Take also with thee thy 
guide and companion, the Rattlesnake maiden. 
When thou hast arrived at the shore of the country 
of her people, let go the lightning, and it will land 
thee high. On the morrow I will journey slowly, 
that ere I be done rising thou mayest reach the 



The Boy Hunter 169 

home of the maiden. There thou must stop but 
briefly, for thy fathers, the Rattle-tailed Serpents, 
will instruct thee, and to their counsel thou must 
pay strict heed, for thus only will it be well. Thou 
shalt present to them the plumes of the Prey-be- 
ings thou bringest, and when thou hast presented 
these, thou must continue thy journey. Rest thou 
until the morrow, and early as the light speed 
hence toward the home of thy fathers. May all 
days find ye, children, happy." With this, the Sun- 
father, scarce listening to the prayers and thanks 
of the youth and maiden, vanished below. 

Thus, when morning approached, the youth and 
the maiden entered the hollow house and closed it. 
Scarce did the youth grasp the lightning when, 
drawn by the bright shaft, the log shot far out into 
the great waters and was skimming, too fast to be 
seen, toward the home of the Rattle-tailed Serpents. 

And the Sun had but just climbed above the 
mountains of this world of daylight when the little 
tube was thrown high above the banks of the great 
island whither they were journeying. 

Then the youth and the maiden again entered the 
council of the Rattlesnakes, and when they saw 
the shining black paint on his face they asked that 
they too might paint their faces like his own ; but 
they painted their cheeks awkwardly, as to this day 
may be seen ; for all rattlesnakes are painted un- 
evenly in the face. Then the young man presented 
to each the plumes he had brought, and told the 
elders that he would return with their maiden to 
the home of his father. 



170 Zuni Folk Tales 

"Be it well, that it may be well," they replied; 
and they thanked him with delight for the treasure- 
plumes he had bestowed upon them. 

" Go ye happily all days," said the elders. 
" Listen, child, and father, to our words of advice. 
But a little while, and thou wilt reach the bank 
whence thou started. Let go the shaft of light- 
ning, and, behold, the tube thou hast journeyed 
with will plunge far down into the river. Then 
shalt thou journey with this our maiden three 
days. Care not to embrace her, for if thou doest 
this, it will not be well. Journey ye preciously, 
our children, and may ye be happy one with the 
other." 

So again they entered their hollow log, and, be- 
fore entering, the maiden placed her rattlesnake 
skin as before on the fangs. With incredible swift- 
ness the lightning drew them up the great surging 
river to the banks where the cottonwood forests 
grow, and when the lad pressed the shaft it landed 
them high among the forest trees above the steep 
bank. Then the youth pressed the lightning-shaft 
with all his might, and the log was dashed into the 
great river. While yet he gazed at the bounding 
log, behold ! the fangs which the maiden had fixed 
into it turned to living serpents ; hence today, 
throughout the whole great world, from the Land 
of Summer to the Waters of Sunset, are found the 
Rattlesnakes and their children. 

Then the young man journeyed with the maiden 
southward ; and on the way, with the bow and ar- 
rows the Sun-father had given him, he killed game, 



The Boy Hunter 171 

that they might have meat to eat. Nor did he 
forget the commandments of his Sun-father. At 
night he built a fire in a forest of pinons, and made 
a bower for the maiden near to it ; but she could 
not sit there, for she feared the fire, and its light 
pained her eyes. Nor could she eat at first of the 
food he cooked for her, but only tasted a few 
mouthfuls of it. Then the young man made a bed 
for her under the trees, and told her to rest peace- 
fully, for he would guard her through the night. 

And thus they journeyed and rested until the 
fourth day, when at evening they entered the town 
under the mountains of Shiwina and were happily 
welcomed by the father, sister, and relatives of the 
young man. Blessed by the old priest-chief, the 
youth and the maiden dwelt with the younger sister 
Waiasialuhtitsa, in the high house of the upper 
part of the town. And the boy was as before 
a mighty hunter, and the maiden at last grew used 
to the food and ways of mortals. 

After they had thus lived together for a long 
time, there were born of the maiden two children, 
twins. 

Wonderful to relate, these children grew to the 
power of wandering, in a single day and night ; and 
hence, when they appeared suddenly on the 
housetops and in the plazas, people said to one 
another : 

" Who are these strange people, and whence 
came they ? " — and talked much after the manner 
of our foolish people. And the other little children 
in the town beat them and quarrelled with them. 



172 Zuni Folk Tales 

as strange children are apt to do with strange 
children. And when the twins ran in to their 
mother, crying and complaining, the poor young 
woman was saddened ; so she said to the 
father when he returned from hunting in the 
evening : 

" Ah ! ' their father,' it is not well that we 
remain longer here. No, alas ! I must return to 
the country of my fathers, and take with me these 
little ones," and, although the father prayed her 
not, she said only : " It must be," and he was 
forced to consent. 

Then for four days the Rattlesnake woman 
instructed him in the prayers and chants of her 
people, and she took him forth and showed him 
the medicines whereby the bite of her fathers 
might be assuaged, and how to prepare them. 
Again and again the young man urged her not 
to leave him, saying : " The way is long and filled 
with dangers. How, alas ! will you reach it in 
safety ? " 

" Fear not," said she ; " go with me only to the 
shore of the great river, and my fathers will come 
to meet me and take me home." 

Sadly, on the last morning, the father accom- 
panied his wife and children to the forests of the 
great river. There she said he must not follow ; 
but as he embraced them he cried out : 

" Ah, alas ! my beautiful wife, my beloved chil- 
dren, flesh of my flesh, how shall I not follow ye ? " 

Then his wife answered : " Fear not, nor trouble 
thyself with sad thoughts. Whither we go thou 



The Boy Hunter 173 

canst not follow, for thou eatest cooked food — 
(thou art a mortal) ; but soon thy fathers and mine 
will come for thee, and thou wilt follow us, never 
to return." Then she turned from him with the 
little children and was seen no more, and the young 
man silently returned to his home below the moun- 
tains of Shiwina. 

It happened here and there in time that young 
men of his tribe were bitten by rattlesnakes ; but 
the young man had only to suck their wounds, and 
apply his medicines, and sing his incantations 
and prayers, to cure them. Whenever this hap- 
pened, he breathed the sacred breath upon them, 
and enjoined them to secrecy of the rituals and 
chants he taught them, save only to such as they 
should choose and teach the practice of their 
prayers. 

Thus he had cured and taught eight, when one 
day he ascended the mountains for wood. There, 
alone in the forest, he was met and bitten by his 
fathers. Although he slowly and painfully crawled 
home, long ere he reached his town he was so 
swollen that the eight whom he had instructed 
tried in vain to cure him, and, bidding them cherish 
as a precious gift the knowledge of his beloved 
wife, he died. 

Immediately his fathers met his breath and being 
and took them to the home of the Maiden of the 
Rattlesnakes and of his lost children. Need we 
ask why he was not cured by his disciples ? 

Thus it was in the days of the ancients, and 
hence today we have fathers amongst us to whom 



174 



Zuni Folk Tales 



the dread bite of the rattlesnake need cause no 
sad thoughts, — the Tchi Kialikwe (Society of the 
Rattlesnakes). 

Thus much and thus shortened is my story. 




m^ 



CW/rn^' 



JfeM" 




HOW AhaiyOta and mAtsailema 

STOLE THE THUNDER-STONE AND 
THE LIGHTNING-SHAFT 

AHAIYUTA and Matsailema, with their grand- 
mother, Hved where now stands the ancient 
Middle Place of Sacrifice on Thunder Mountain. 

One day they went out hunting prairie-dogs, and 
while they were running about from one prairie-dog 
village to another, it began to rain, which made the 
trail slippery and the ground muddy, so that the 
boys became a little wrathful. Then they sat 
down and cursed the rain for a brief space. Off in 
the south it thundered until the earth trembled, and 
the liofhtninor-shafts flew about the red-bordered 
clouds until the two brothers were nearly blinded 
with the beholding of it. Presently the younger 
brother smoothed his brow, and jumped up with an 
exclamation somewhat profane, and cried out : 
" Elder brother, let us go to the Land of Ever- 
lasting Summer and steal from the gods in council 
their thunder and liorhtninor. I think it would be 
fine fun to do that sort of thing we have just been 
looking at and listening to." 

The elder brother was somewhat more cautious ; 
still, on the whole, he liked the idea. So he said : 
" Let us take our prairie-dogs home to the grand- 
mother, that she shall have something to eat mean- 
while, and we will think about going tomorrow 
morning." 

175 



176 Zuni Folk Tales 

The next morning, bright and early, they started 
out. In vain the old grandmother called rather 
crossly after them : " Where are you going now ? " 
She could get no satisfaction, for she knew they 
lied when they called back : " Oh, we are only 
going to hunt more prairie-dogs." It is true that 
they skulked round in the plains about Thunder 
Mountain a little while, as if looking for prairie- 
dogs. Then, picking up their wondrously swift 
heels, they sped away toward that beautiful coun- 
try of the corals, the Land of Everlasting Summer. 

At last, — it may be in the mountains of that 
country, which are said to glow like shells of the 
sea or the clouds of the sunset, — they came to the 
House of the Beloved Gods themselves. And that 
red house was a wondrous terrace, rising wall after 
wall, and step after step, like a high mountain, 
grand and stately ; and the walls were so smooth 
and high that the skill and power of the little 
War-gods availed them nothing ; they could not 
g-et in. 

" What shall we do ? " asked the younger brother. 

" Go home," said the elder, " and mind our own 
affairs." 

" Oh, no," urged the younger ; " I have it, elder 
brother. Let us hunt up our grandfather, the 
Centipede." 

" Good ! " replied the elder. " A happy thought 
is that of yours, my brother younger." 

Forthwith they laid down their bows and quiv- 
ers of mountain-lion skin, their shields, and other 
things, and set about turning over all the flat stones 



Ahaiyuta and Matsailema 177 

they could find. Presently, lifting one with their 
united strength, they found under it the very old 
fellow they sought. He doubled himself, and cov- 
ered his eyes from the sharpness of the daylight. 
He did not much like being thus disturbed, even 
by his grandchildren, the War-gods, in the middle 
of his noonday nap, and was by no means polite 
to them. But they prodded him a little in the 
side, and said : " Now, grandfather, look here ! 
We are in difficulty, and there is no one in the 
wide world who can help us out as you will." 

The old Centipede was naturally flattered. He 
unrolled himself and viewed them with a look 
which he intended to be extremely reproachful and 
belittling. " Ah, my grandchildren," said he, " what 
are you up to now ? Are you trying to get your- 
selves into trouble, as usual ? No doubt of it ! I 
will help you all I can ; but the consequences be on 
your own heads ! " 

" That 's right, grandfather, that 's right ! No 
one in the world could help us as you can," said 
one of them. " The fact is, we want to get hold 
of the thunder-stone and the lightning-shaft which 
the Rain-gods up there in the tremendous house 
keep and guard so carefully, we understand. Now, 
in the first place, we cannot get up the wall ; in the 
second place, if we did, we would probably have a 
fuss with them in trying to steal these things. 
Therefore, we want you to help us, if you will." 

" With all my heart, my boys ! But I should 
advise you to run along home to your grand- 
mother, and let these thinors alone." 



178 Zuni Folk Tales 

" Oh, pshaw, nonsense ! We are only going to 
play a little while with the thunder and lightning." 

"All right," replied the old Worm; "sit here 
and wait for me." He wriggled himself and 
stirred about, and his countless legs were more 
countless than ever with rapid motions as he ran 
toward the walls of that stately terrace. A vine 
could not have run up more closely, nor a bird 
more rapidly ; for if one foot slipped, another held 
on ; so the old Centipede wriggled himself up the 
sides and over the roof, down into the great sky- 
hole ; and, scorning the ladder, which he feared 
might creak, he went along, head-downward, on 
the ceiling to the end of the room over the altar, 
ran down the side, and approached that most for- 
bidden of places, the altar of the gods themselves. 
The beloved gods, in silent majesty, were sitting 
there with their heads bowed in meditation so 
deep that they heard not the faint scuffle of the 
Centipede's feet as he wound himself down into 
the altar and stole the thunder-stone. He took 
it in his mouth — which was larger than the mouths 
of Centipedes are now — and carried it silently, 
weighty as it was, up the way he had come, over 
the roof, down the wall, and back to the flat stone 
where he made his home, and where, hardly able 
to contain themselves with impatience, the two 
youthful gods were awaiting him. 

" Here he comes ! " cried the younger brother, 
" and he 's got it ! By my war-bonnet, he 's got it ! '' 

The old grandfather threw the stone down. It 
began to sound, but Ahaiyuta grabbed it, and. 



Ahaiyuta and Matsailema 1 79 

as it were, throttled its world-stirring speech. 
" Good ! orood ! " he cried to the orrandfather ; 
" thank you, old grandfather, thank you ! " 

"Hold on!" cried the younger brother; "you 
did n't bring both. What can we do with the one 
without the other ? " 

"Shut up!" cried the old Worm. "I know 
what I am about ! " And before they could say 
any more he was off again. Ere long he returned, 
carrying the shaft of lightning, with its blue, shim- 
mering point, in his mouth. 

" Good ! " cried the War-gods, And the younger 
brother caught up the lightning, and almost forgot 
his weapons, which, however, he did stop to take 
up, and started on a full run for Thunder Moun- 
tain, followed by his more deliberate, but equally 
interested elder brother, who brought along the 
thunder-stone, which he found a somewhat heavier 
burden than he had supposed. 

It was not long, you may well imagine, so pow- 
erful were these Gods of War, ere they reached 
the home of their grandmother on the top of 
Thunder Mountain. They had carefully concealed 
the thunder-stone and the shaft of lightning mean- 
while, and had taken care to provide themselves 
with a few prairie-dogs by way of deception. 

Still, in majestic revery, unmoved, and appa- 
rently unwitting of what had taken place, sat the 
Rain-gods in their home in the mountains of 
Summerland. 

Not long after they arrived, the young gods 
began to grow curious and anxious to try their 



i8o Zuni Folk Tales 

new playthings. They poked one another con- 
siderably, and whispered a great deal, so that their 
grandmother began to suspect they were about 
to play some rash joke or other, and presently 
she espied the point of lightning gleaming under 
Matsailema's dirty jacket. 

" Demons and corpses ! " she cried. " By the 
moon ! You have stolen the thunder-stone and 
lightning-shaft from the Gods of Rain themselves ! 
Go this instant and return them, and never do 
such a thing again ! " she cried, with the utmost 
severity ; and, making a quick step for the fire- 
place, she picked up a poker with which to belabor 
their backs, when they whisked out of the room 
and into another. They slammed the door in 
their grandmother's face and braced it, and, clear- 
ing away a lot of rubbish that was lying around 
the rear room, they established themselves in one 
end, and, nodding and winking at one another, 
cried out : " Now, then ! " The younger let go the 
lightning-shaft ; the elder rolled the thunder-stone. 
The lightning hissed through the air, and far out 
into the sky, and returned. The thunder-stone 
rolled and rumbled until it shook the foundations 
of the mountain. " Glorious fun ! " cried the boys, 
rubbing their thighs in ecstasy of delight. " Do 
it again ! " And again they sent forth the light- 
ning and rolled the thunder-stone. 

And now the gods in Summerland arose in their 
majesty and breathed upon the skies ; and the 
winds rose, and the rains fell like rivers from the 
clouds, centering their violence upon the roof of 



Ahaiyuta and Matsailema i8i 

the poor old grandmother's house. Heedlessly 
those reckless wretches kept on playing the thunder- 
stone and lio-htninor-shaft without the slightest 
regard to the tremendous commotion they were 
raising all throuofh the skies and all over Thunder 
Mountain ; but nowhere else as above the house 
where their poor old grandmother lived fell the 
torrent of the rain, and there alone, of course, burst 
the lightning and rolled the thunder. 

Soon the water poured through the roof of the 
house ; but, move the things as the old grandmother 
would, she could not keep them dry ; scold the boys 
as she would, she could not make them desist. 
No, they would only go on with their play more 
violently than ever, exclaiming : " What has she 
to say, anyway ? It won't hurt her to get a good 
ducking, and this is fun ! " By-and-by the waters 
rose so high that they extinguished the fire. Soon 
they rose still higher, so that the War-gods had 
to paddle around half submerged. Still they kept 
rolling the thunder-stone and shooting the lightning. 
The old grandmother scolded harder and harder, 
but after awhile desisted and climbed to the top 
of the fireplace, whence, after recovering from her 
exertion, she began again. But the boys heeded 
her not, only saying : " Let her yell ! Let her scold ! 
This is fun ! " At last they began to take the old 
grandmother's scolding as a matter of course, and 
allowed nothing but the water to interrupt their 
pastime. It rose so high, finally, that they were 
near drowning. Then they climbed to the roof, 
but still they kept on. 



i82 Zuni Folk Tales 

" By the bones of the dead ! why did we not 
think to come here before ? 'T is ten times as fine 
up here. See him shoot ! " cried one to the other, 
as the lightning sped through the sky, ever re- 
turning. 

" Hear it mutter and roll ! " cried the other, as 
the thunder bellowed and grumbled. 

But no sooner had the Two begun their sport on 
the roof, than the rain fell in one vast sheet all 
about them ; and it was not long ere the house 
was so full that the old grandmother — locked in 
as she was — bobbed her poor pate on the rafters in 
trying to keep it above the water. She gulped 
water, and gasped, coughed, strangled, and shrieked 
to no purpose. 

" What a fuss our old grandmother is making, 
to be sure ! " cried the boys. And they kept on, 
until, forsooth, the water had completely filled the 
room, and the grandmother's cries gurgled away 
and ceased. Finally, the thunder-stone grew so 
terrific, and the lightning so hot and unmanage- 
able, that the boys, drawing a long breath and 
thinking with immense satisfaction of the fun they 
had had, possibly also influenced as to the safety 
of the house, which was beginning to totter, flung 
the thunder-stone and the lightning-shaft into the 
sky, where, rattling and flashing away, they finally 
disappeared over the mountains in the south. 

Then the clouds rolled away and the sun shone 
out, and the boys, wet to the skin, tired in good 
earnest, and hungry as well, looked around. 
" Goodness ! the water is running out of the 



Ahaiyuta and Matsailcma i8 



o 



windows of our house ! This is a pretty mess 
we are in ! Grandmother ! Grandmother ! " they 
shouted. " Open the door, and let us in ! " But 
the old grandmother had piped her last, and never 
a sound came except that of flowing water. They 
sat themselves down on the roof, and waited for 
the water to get lower. Then they climbed down, 
and pounded open the door, and the water came 
out with a rush, and out with a rush, too, their 
poor old grandmother, — her eyes staring, her hair 
all mopped and muddied, and her fingers and legs 
as stiff as cedar sticks. 

" Oh, ye gods ! ye gods ! " the two boys ex- 
claimed ; " we have killed our own grandmother — 
poor old grandmother, who scolded us so hard and 
loved us so much ! Let us bury her here in front 
of the door, as soon as the water has run away." 

So, as soon as it became dry enough, there they 
buried her ; and in less than four days a strange 
plant grew up on that spot, and on its little branches, 
amid its bright green leaves, hung long, pointed 
pods of fruit, as red as the fire on the breast of the 
red-bird. 

" It is well," said the boys, as they stood one day 
looking at this plant. " Let us scatter the seeds 
abroad, that men may find and plant them. It 
seems it was not without good cause that in 
the abandonment to our sport we killed our old 
grandmother, for out of her heart there sprung a 
plant into the fruits of which, as it were, has flowed 
the color as well as the fire of her scoldingr toneue ; 
and, if we have lost our grandmother, whom we 



i84 Zuni Folk Tales 

loved much, but who loved us more, men have 
gained a new food, which, though it burn them, 
shall please them more than did the heat of her 
discourse please us. Poor old grandmother ! Men 
will little dream when they eat peppers that the 
seed of them first arose from the fiery heart of the 
grandmother of Ahaiyuta and Matsailema." 

Thereupon the two seized the pods and crushed 
them between their hands, with an exclamation of 
pleasure at the brisk odor they gave forth. They 
cast the seeds abroad, which seeds here and there 
took root ; and the plants which sprang from them 
being found by men, were esteemed good and were 
cultivated, as they are to this day in the pepper 
gardens of Zuni. 

Ever since this time you hear that mountain 
wherein lived the grods with their orrandmother 
called Thunder Mountain ; and often, indeed, to 
this day, the lightning flashes and the thunder 
plays over its brows and the rain falls there most 
frequently. 

It is said by some that the two boys, when asked 
how they stole the lightning-shaft and the thunder- 
stone, told on their poor old grandfather, the 
Centipede. The beloved Gods of the Rain gave 
him the lightning-shaft to handle in another way, 
and it so burned and shrivelled him that he became 
small, as you can see by looking at any of his nu- 
merous descendants, who are not only small but 
appear like a well-toasted bit of buckskin, fringed 
at the edores. 

So shortens my story. 




Photo by A. C. Vroman 



A HOPI (MOKl) MAIDEN 



THE WARRIOR SUITOR OF MOKI 




W 



E take up a story. Of the times of 
the ancients, a story. Listen, ye 
young ones and youths, and from what 
I say draw inference. For behold ! the 
youth of our nation in these recent 
generations have become less sturdy than of old ; 
else what I relate had not happened. 

To our shame be it told that not many genera- 
tions ago there lived in Moki a poor, ill-favored out- 
cast of a young man, a not-to-be-thought-of-as-hero 
youth, yet nevertheless the hero of my story ; for 
this youth, the last-mentioned in the numbering of 
the men of Moki in those days, alone brought great 
grief on the nation of Zuni. 

And it happened that in Walpi, on the first mesa 
of the Mokis, there lived an amiable, charming, and 
surpassingly beautiful girl, whose face was shining, 
eyes bright, cheeks red like the frost-bite on the 
datila^; whose hair was abundant and soft, black 
and waving, and done up in large whorls above her 
ears, — larger than those of the other maidens of 
her town or nation, — and whose beautiful posses- 
sions were as many as were the charms of her 
person. 

What wonder, then, that the youths of the Moki 
towns should be enamored of her, and seek con- 
stantly, with much urgent bespeaking, for the favor 

' Fruit of the yucca, or soap-weed plant. 
185 



i86 Zuni Folk Tales 

of her affections? Yet she would none of them. 
She would shake her head with a saucy smile, and 
reply to every one, as well as to every recommenda- 
tion of one from her elders : " A hero for me or no 
one ! Any one of these young men may win my 
affections if he will, for who knows until the time 
comes whether a man be a hero or not ? " 

So she made a proposition. She said to all the 
youths who came suing for her hand : " Behold ! 
our nation is at enmity with the Zunis, far off to 
the eastward, over the mountains. If any of you be 
so stout of limb and strong of heart and brave of 
will, let him go to Zuni, slay the men of that nation, 
our enemies, and bring home, not only as proofs of 
his valor, but as presentations to the warrior socie- 
ties of our people, scalps in goodly number. Him 
will I admire to the tips of my eyelashes ; him will 
I cherish to the extent of my powers ; him will I 
make my husband, and in such a husband will I 
glory ! " 

But most of the young and handsome suitors who 
worried her with their importunities would depart 
forthwith, crestfallen, loving the girl as they did, 
forsooth, much less than they feared the warriors of 
Zuni, — so degenerate they had become, for shame ! 
Months passed by. Not one of those who went to 
the maiden's house full of love came away from it 
with as much love as want of valor. 

At last this outcast youth I have mentioned — 
who was spoken to by none, who lived not even in 
the houses of his people, but, all filth and rags, 
made himself comfortable as best he could with the 



The Warrior Suitor of Moki 187 

dogs and eagles and other creatures captive of the 
people, eating like them the castaway and unwhole- 
some scraps of ordinary meals — heard these jilted 
lovers conversing from time to time, exclaiming one 
to another : " A valuable maiden, indeed, for whom 
one would risk one's life single handed against a 
nation whose ancients ever prevailed over all men ! 
No ! though she be the loveliest of women, I care 
not for her on those conditions." " Nor I ! " " Nor 
I ! " others would exclaim. 

Overhearing this talk, the youth formed a most 
presumptuous resolution — no other, in fact, than 
this : that he himself would woo the maiden. 

All dirty and ragged as he was, with hair un- 
kempt, finger-nails long, and person calloused by 
much exposure, lean and wiry like an abused but 
hardened cur, he took himself one night to the 
home of the maiden's father. 

''She-e!'' he exclaimed at the entrance of the 
house, on the top. 

And the people within called out : '' Kwdtchi! " 

"Are ye in?" inquired the youth, in such an 
affable and finished tone and manner of speaking 
that the people expected to see some magnificent 
youth enter, and to listen to his proposal of mar- 
riage with their maiden. 

When they called out "Come in!" and he 
came stepping down the ladder into the lighted 
room, they were, therefore, greatly surprised to see 
this vagabond in the place of what they expected ; 
nevertheless, the old father greeted him pleasantly 
and politely and showed him a seat before the 



i88 Zuni Folk Tales 

fireplace, and bade the women set food before 
him. And the youth, although he had not for 
many a day tasted good food or consumed a full 
meal even, ate quite sparingly ; and, having fin- 
ished, joined, by the old man's invitation, in the 
smoking and conversation of the evening. 

At last the old man asked him what he came 
thinking of ; and the youth stated that, although it 
might seem presumptuous, he had heard of the 
conditions which the maiden of this house had 
made for those who would win her, and it had 
occurred to him that he would be glad to try, — so 
little were his merits, yet so great his love. 

The old man listened, with an inward smile ; and 
the maiden, though she conceived no dislike for the 
youth (there was something about him, strange to 
say, now that his voice had been heard, which 
changed her opinion of him), nevertheless was 
quite merry, all to herself, over this unheard-of pro- 
posal. So, when she was asked what she thought 
of the matter, merely to test the seriousness of the 
young vagabond's motives, she made the conditions 
for him even harder than she had for the others, 
saying : *' Look you, stranger ! If you will slay 
single-handed some of the warriors of the valiant 
Zufiis and bring back to our town, to the joy of our 
warriors and people, a goodly number of their 
scalps, I will indeed wed you, as I have said I 
would the others." 

This satisfied the youth, and, bidding them all 
pass a happy night, he went forth into the dark. 

Not quite so poor and helpless as he seemed, was 



The Warrior Suitor of Moki 189 

this youth ; but one of those wonderful beings of 
this earth in reality, for, behold ! as he had lived 
all his days since childhood with the dogs and 
eagles and other captive animals of the towns of 
Moki-land, so, from long association with them, he 
had learned their ways and language and had 
gained their friendship and allegiance as no other 
mortal ever did. No family had he ; no one to 
advise him, save this great family of dogs and other 
animals with which he lived. 

What do you suppose he did ? He went to each 
hole, sheltered nook, and oven in the town and 
called on the Dogs to join him in council, not long 
before morning of that same night. Every Dog in 
the town answered the summons ; and, below the 
mesa on which Walpi stands, on one of those slop- 
ing banks lighted by the moon, they gathered and 
made a tremendous clamor with their yelpings and 
barkings and other noises such as you are accus- 
tomed to hear from Doo-s at nicjht-time. The 
proposition which the youth made to this council 
of Dogs was as follows : 

" My friends and brothers, I am about to go 
forth on the path of war to the cities of the Zunis 
toward the sunrise. If I succeed, my reward will 
be great. Now, as I well know from having lived 
amongst you and been one of you so long, there 
are two things which are more prized in a Dog's 
life than anything else. An occasional good feast 
is one of them ; being let alone is another. I think 
I can bring about both of these rewards for you all 
if you will, four days hence, after I have prepared 



iQo Zufii Folk Tales 

a sufficiency of food for the party, join me In my 
warlike expedition against the Zunis." 

The Dogs greeted this proposition with vociferous 
acclamation, and the council dispersed. 

On the following day, toward evening, the youth 
again presented himself at the home of the maiden. 
" My friends," said he to the family ; *' I am, as you 
know, or can easily perceive, extremely poor. I 
have no home nor source of food ; yet, as I antici- 
pate that I shall be long on this journey, and as I 
neither possess nor know how to use a bow and 
arrow, I come to humbly beseech your assistance. 
I will undertake this thing which has been pro- 
posed to me ; but, in order that I may be enabled 
the more easily to do so, I desire that you will 
present to me a sufficiency of food for my journey ; 
or, if you will lend it to me, I shall be satisfied." 

Now, the maiden's people were among the first 
in the nation, and well-to-do in all ways. They 
most willingly consented to give the young man 
not only a sufficiency of food for days, but for 
months ; and when he went away that night he had 
all that he could carry of meal, coarse and fine, piki 
or Moki wafer-rolls, tortillas, and abundant grease- 
cakes, which he well knew would be most tempting 
to Dogs. 

On the fourth day thereafter, — for he had been 
making his weapons : some flint knives and a good 
hard war-club, — at evening, he again called at each 
of the holes and places the Dogs of the town in- 
habited, and he said to all of them : " I shall leave 
forthwith on my journey, having provided myself 



The Warrior Suitor of Moki 191 

with a sufficiency of food for much feasting on the 
way. Like yourselves, I have become inured to 
hardship and am swift of foot, and by midnight I 
shall be half-way to Zuni. As soon as the people 
are asleep, that they may not pelt you with stones 
and drive you back, follow on the trail to Zuni as 
fast as you can. I will await you by the side of 
the Black Mountains, near the Spring of the Night- 
hawks, and there I will cook the provisions, that 
we may have a jolly feast and the more strongly 
proceed on our journey the day following." 

The Dogs gave him repeated assurances of their 
willingness to follow ; and, heavily laden with his 
provisions, the youth, just at dusk, climbed unob- 
served down the nether side of the mesa and set 
out through the plains of sagebrush, over the hills 
far east of Moki, and so on along the plateaus and 
valleys leading to this our town of Zuni. At the 
place he had appointed as a rendezvous he arrived 
not long before midnight, lighted a fire, unstrapped 
his provisions, and began to cook mush in great 
quantities. 

Now, after the lights in the windows of Moki 
began to go out — shutting up their red eyes, as it 
were, as the maidens of Moki shut up their bright 
eyes — there was tremendous activity observed 
among the Dogs. But they made not much noise 
about it until every last Dog in town — as motley a 
crowd of curs and mongrels as ever were seen, un- 
less one might see all the Dogs of Moki today- 
descended the mesa, and one by one gathered in a 
great pack, and started, baying, barking, and 



192 Zuni Folk Tales 

howling louder and louder as they went along over 
the eastern hills on the trail which the youth had 
taken. 

By-and-by he heard them coming ; te-ne-e-e-e they 
sounded as they ran ; wo-wo-o-o-o they came, bay- 
ing and barking in all sorts of voices, nearer and 
nearer. So the youth prepared his provisions, and 
as the nearest of them came into the ligfht of the 
fire, cried out: " Ho, my friends, ye come ! I am 
glad to see ye come ! Sit ye round my camp-fire. 
Let us feast and be merry and lighten the load of 
my provisions. Methinks we will all carry some of 
them when we start out tomorrow." 

Thereupon he liberally distributed mush, torti- 
llas, and paper bread, — inviting the hot, tired Dogs 
to drink their fill from the spring and eat their fill 
from the feast. The Dogs, being very hungry, 
as Dogs always are — and the more so from the 
memory of many a long fast — fell to with avidity 
(and you know what that means with Dogs) ; and 
the Short-legs and Beagles would not have fared 
very well had the youth not considered them and 
held back a good supply of provisions against 
their tardy appearance. 

Finally, when all were assembled and had eaten, 
if not to their satisfaction — that was impossi- 
ble — yet to their temporary gratification, a merry, 
noisy, much-wriggling crowd they became. Some 
lay down and rested, others were impatient for the 
journey ; so that even before daylight the youth, 
making up his bundle of provisions, again set forth 
at a swift trot, followed by this pack of Dogs which 



The Warrior Suitor of Moki 193 

ran along either side of him and strung out on the 
trail the length of a race-course behind him. 

Before night, see this valiant youth quietly hid- 
ing himself away in one of the deep arroyos 
around the western end of Grand Mountain, and 
the foot-hills of Twin Mountain, near which, as you 
know, the trail from Moki leads to our town. He 
is giving directions to the Dogs in a quiet manner, 
and feeding them again, rather more sparingly 
than at first that they may be anxious for their 
work. 

He says to them : " My friends and brothers, 
lay yourselves about here, each one according to 
his color in places most suited for concealment, — 
some near the gray sage-bushes ; and you fellows 
with fine marks on your backs keep out of sight, 
pray, in these deep holes, and come in as our 
reserve force when we want you. Now, lie here 
patiently, for you will have enough work to do, 
and can afford to rest. Tomorrow morning, not 
long after sunrise, I shall doubtless come, with 
more precipitation than willingness, toward your 
ambuscade, with a pack of Dogs less worthy the 
name than yourselves at my heels. Be ready to 
help me ; they are well-nurtured Dogs, and doubt- 
less, if you like, you will be wise enough to make 
much of this fact." 

The Dogs were well pleased with his proposi- 
tion, and, in louder voices than was prudent, attested 
their readiness to follow his suggestion, going so 
far as to assure him that he need have no fear 

whatsoever, that they alone would vanquish the Zuni 

13 



194 Zuni Folk Tales 

nation — which, they had heard from other Dogs, 
was becoming rather lazy and indifferent in manly 
matters. Dogs and all. 

The night wore on ; the youth had refreshed 
himself with sleep, and somewhat after the herald- 
stars of the morning-star had appeared, he stealthily 
picked his way across our broad plain, toward the 
hill of Zuni ; and out west there, only a short space 
from the sunset front of our town, he crouched 
down on a little terrace to wait. 

Not long after the morning-star had risen, a fine 
old Zuni came out of his house, shook his blanket, 
wrapped it round him, and came stealing down in 
the daylight to the river side. After he had pre- 
sented his morning sacrifice toward the rising sun, 
he returned and sat down a moment. He had no 
sooner seated himself than the wily, sinewy youth 
with a quick motion sprang up, pulled the poor 
man over, and with his war-club knocked his brains 
out, after which he leisurely took off the scalp of 
the one he had slain. He had barely finished this 
operation when he heard a ladder creak in one of 
the upper terraces of the town. He quickly tucked 
the scalp in his belt, pulled himself together, and 
thrusting the body of the dead man into the bottom 
of a hole, which was very near, crouched over it and 
waited. The footsteps of the man who was coming 
sounded nearer and nearer. Presently he also came 
to this place ; but no sooner had he reached the 
terrace than the Moki youth leaped up and dealt 
him such a blow on the head that, without uttering 
a sound, he instantly expired. This one he like- 



The Warrior Suitor of Moki 195 

wise scalped, and then another and another he 
served in the same way, until, there being four slain 
men in the pit, he had to drag some out of the way 
and throw them behind the dust-heap. Just as he 
returned another man sauntered down to the place. 
The youth murdered him like the rest, and was 
busy skinning his scalp, when another who had fol- 
lowed him somewhat closely appeared at the hole, 
and discovering what was going on, ran toward the 
town for his weapons, shouting the war-cry of alarm 
as he went. Picking up the scalps and snatching 
from the bodies of the slain their ornaments of 
greatest value, the Moki youth sped off over the 
plain. 

In less time than it takes to tell it, the people of 
Zuni were in arms ; dogs barked, children cried, 
women screamed, — for no one knew how many the 
enemy might be, — and the Priests of the Bow, in 
half-secured armor of buckskin, and with weapons 
in hand, came thundering down the hill and across 
the plains in pursuit of the fleeing youth and in 
readiness to oppose his band. Long before this 
crowd of warriors, now fully awake and wild with 
rage, had reached the spot, the youth plunged into 
the arroyo and called out to his Dogs : " Now for it, 
my friends ! They will be here in a minute ! Do 
you hear them coming ? " 

"Oh, ho!" softly barked the Dogs; and they 
stiffened their claws and crouched themselves to 
spring when the time should come. 

Presently on came the crowd of warriors, now 
feeling that they had but a small force, if indeed 



196 Zuni Folk Tales 

more than one man to oppose. And they came 
with such precipitation that they took the gray and 
dun and yellow-shaded Dogs for so many rocks and 
heaps of sand, and were fairly in the midst of those 
brutes before they became aware of them at all. 
Death and ashes ! what a time there was of it ! 
The youth fell in with his war-club, the Dogs around, 
behind, and in front of them howling, snarling, bit- 
ing, tearing, and shaking the Zunis on every hand, 
until every one of the band was torn to pieces or so 
mangled that a few taps of the club of the youth 
dispatched them. Those who had followed behind, 
not knowing what to think of it all, frantically ran 
back to their people, — the shame-begrimed cow- 
ards ! — while the youth, with abundant leisure, went 
on skinning scalps, until, perceiving much activity 
in the distant town, concluded it would be wise to 
abandon some few he had not finished. So, catching 
up his pack of provisions and his bloody string of 
scalps (which was so long and thick he could hardly 
carry it, and which dragged on the ground behind 
him), he trotted over the hills, followed by some of 
the Dogs — the others remaining behind, feeling 
more secure of swiftness — to take advantage of 
the ample feast spread before them. 

When the youth and the Dogs who followed 
him, or afterward joined him, had again reached 
the great spring by the Black Mountains, leaving 
those who pursued far behind, they stopped ; 
and, building a fire of brush and pine-knots, the 
youth cooked all the provisions he had. " Thanks 
this day, my friends and brothers ! " he cried to the 



The Warrior Suitor of iMoki 



197 



Dogs. - Ye have nobly served me. I will feast 
ye of the best." Whereupon he produced the 
grease-cakes and the more delicate articles of food 
which he had reserved as a reward for the Dogs. 
They ate and ate, and loud were their demonstra- 
tions of satisfaction. Then the youth, taking up 
the string of scalps again, attached them to a long 
pole, which, to keep the lower ones from dragging 
on the ground, he elevated over his shoulder, and, 
striking up a song of victory, he wound his way 
along the trail toward Moki. 

The Dogs, crazy with victory and much glutted 
could not contain themselves, but they bow-wowed 
with delight and yelped and scurried about, cutting 
circles dusty and wide around their father, the con- 
quering youth. Theyhurried on so fast' that by- 
and-by it was noticeable that the Beagle Dogs fell 
in the rear. " By the music of marrowbones!" ex- 
claimed some of the swifter of foot ; "we will have 
to slacken our pace, father." Said they, address- 
ing the youth : " Our poor brothers, the Short-legs, 
are evidently getting tired ; they are falling farin 
the rear, and it is not valorous, however great your 
victory and however strong your desire to proclaim 
It at home, to leave a worn-out brother lagging be- 
hind. The enemy might come unawares and cut 
off his return and his daylight." Most reluctantly, 
therefore, they slackened their pace, and with 
shouts and yelps encouraged as much as possible 
the stump-legged Dogs following behind. 

Now, on that day in Moki there had been much 
surprise expressed at the absence of the Dogs, 



198 Zuni Folk Tales 

except those which were so young or so old that they 
could not travel ; and the people began to think 
that some devil or all the wizards in Mokidom had 
been conjuring their Dogs away from them, when 
toward evening they heard a distant sound, which 
was the approaching victors' demonstration of re- 
joicing, and clear above all was the song of victory 
shouted by the lusty youth as he came bringing 
his scalps along. " Woo, woo, woo ! " the Dogs 
sounded as they came across the valley and ap- 
proached the foot of the mesa ; and when the 
people looked down and saw the blood and dirt 
with which every Dog was covered, they knew not 
what to make of it, — whether their Dogs had been 
enticed away and foully beaten, or whether they 
had taken after a herd of antelope, perhaps, and 
vanquished them. But presently they espied in 
the midst of the motley crowd of Curs the tall lank 
form of the vagabond youth and heard his lusty 
song. The youths who had been jilted by the 
maiden at once had their own ideas. Some of 
them sneaked away ; others ground their teeth and 
covered their eyes, filled with rage and shame ; 
while the elder-men of the nation, seeinof what feats 
of valor this neglected youth had accomplished, 
glorified him with answering songs of victory and 
gathered in solemn council, as if for a most hon- 
ored and precious guest, to receive him. 

So, victorious and successful in all ways, the out- 
cast dog of a youth who went to Zuni and returned 
the hero of the Moki nation right willingly was 
accepted by this beauteous maiden as her husband 



The Warrior Suitor of Moki 199 

after the ceremonies of initiation and purification 
had been performed over him. 

Ah, well ! that was very fine ; but all this praise 
of one who had been despised and abused by them- 
selves, and, more than all, the possession of such a 
beautiful wife, wrought fierce jealousy in the breasts 
of the many jilted lovers ; making those who had 
looked askance at one another before, true friends 
and firm brothers in a single cause — the undoincr of 
this lucky vagabond youth. Nor were they alone in 
this desire, for behold ! copying their lucky sister, all 
the pretty maidens in Moki declared that they 
would marry no one who did not show himself at 
least in some degree heroic, like the youth of the 
dog-holes who had married their pretty sister. It 
therefore came about that the whole tribe of Moki, 
so far as the young men were concerned, became a 
company of jilted lovers, and all the maidens became 
confirmed in their resolutions of virgin maiden- 
hood. 

The jilted lovers got together one night in a 
cautious sort of way (for they were all afraid of this 
hero) and held a council. But the fools did n't 
think of the Dogs lying around outside, who heard 
what they said. They concluded the best way to 
get even with this youth was to kill him ; but how 
to kill him was the problem, for they were cowards. 
"We will get up a hunt," said one; "and make 
friends with him and ask him to go, paying him all 
sorts of attention, and ask him to instruct us in the 
arts of war, the wretch ! He will readily join us in 
our hunting excursion, and some of us will sling a 



200 Zuni Folk Tales 

throwina-stick at him and finish the conceited 
fellow's days ! " 

Now, the Dogs scrambled off immediately and 
informed their friend and brother what was going on. 

He said : " All right ! I will accept their ad- 
vances and go with them on the hunt." 

He went off that night to a cave, where he had 
often souo-ht shelter from the wind when driven out 
of the town of Walpi, and thus had made acquain- 
tance with those most unerring travellers in crooked 
places — the Cave-swallows. He went to one of 
them, an elderly, wise bird, and, addressing him as 
" Grandfather," told him what was going on. 

" Very well," said the old bird ; " I will help 
you." And he made a boomerang for the youth 
which had the power to fly around bushes and 
down into gullies ; and if well thrown, of course, it 
could not be dodged by any rabbit, however swift 
of foot or sly in hiding. Having finished this 
boomerang, he told the youth to take it and use it 
freely in hunting. The youth thanked him, and 
returning to his town passed a peaceful night. 

When he appeared the next morning, the others 
greeted him pleasantly — those who happened to 
see him — to which greetings he replied with equal 
cordiality. They were so importunate with the 
priest-chiefs to be allowed to undertake a grand 
rabbit-hunt that these fathers of the people, always 
desirous of contributing to the happiness of their 
children, ordered a grand hunt for the very next 
day. So everybody was busy forthwith in making 
throwing-sticks and boomerangs. 



The Warrior Suitor of Moki 201 

The next day all the able-bodied youth of the 
town, selecting the hero of whom we have told as 
their leader, took their way to the great plain 
south of Moki, and there, spreading out into an 
enormous circle, they drove hundreds of rabbits 
closer and closer together among the sagebrush in 
the center of the valley. Some of them succeeded 
in striking down one — some of them three or four 
— but ere long every one observed that each time 
the youth threw his stick he struck a rabbit and 
secured it, until he had so many that he was forced 
to call some boys who had followed along to carry 
them for him. 

Already inflamed by their jealousies to great 
anger, what was the chagrin of this crowd of dan- 
dies, now that this youth whom they so heartily 
despised actually surpassed them even in hunting 
rabbits ! They gnashed their teeth with rage, and 
one of them in a moment of excitement, when two 
or three rabbits were trying to escape, took delib- 
erate aim at the youth and threw his boomerang at 
him. The youth, who was wily, sprang into the 
air so high, pretending meanwhile to throw his 
boomerang, that the missile missed his vital parts, 
but struck his leg and apparently broke it, so that 
he fell down senseless in the midst of the crowd ; 
and the people set up a great shout — some of la- 
mentation, some of exultation, 

" Let him lie there and rot ! " said the angry 
suitors, catching up their own rabbits and making 
off for the pueblo. But some of the old men, who 
deplored this seeming accident of the youth, ran as 



202 Zuh'i Folk Tales 

fast as they could toward the town — fearing to 
raise him lest they should make his hurt worse — 
for medicine. 

When the youth had been left alone, he opened 
his eyes and smiled. Then, taking from his pouch 
a medicine unfailing in its effects, applied it to the 
bruised spot and quickly became relieved of pain, 
if not even of injury. Rising, he looked about and 
found the rabbits where, panic-stricken, the boys 
had dropped them and fled away. He made up a 
huge bundle, and not long before sunset, behold ! 
singing merrily, he came marching, though limping 
somewhat, through the plain before the foot-hills of 
Moki, bearine an enormous burden of rabbits. He 
climbed the mesa, greeted every one pleasantly as 
though nothing had occurred, took his way to his 
home, and became admired of all the women of 
Moki, young and old, as a paragon of valor and 
manhood. 

It became absolutely necessary after that, of 
course, — for these faint-hearted dandies tried no 
more tricks with the youth, — for anyone who would 
marry a Moki maiden to show himself a man in 
some way or other ; and, as the ugliest and most 
neglected of children generally turn out sharpest 
because they have to look out for themselves, so it 
happens that to this day the husbands of Moki are 
generally very ugly ; but one thing is certain — they 
are men. 

Reflect on these things, ye young ones and 
youths. 

Thus shortens my story. 



HOWTHECOYOTE JOINEDTHE DANCE 
OF THE BURROWING-OVVLS 

YOU may know the country that Hes south of the 
valley in which our town stands. You travel 
along the trail which winds round the hill our an- 
cients called Ishana-tak' yapon, — which means the 
Hill of Grease, for the rocks sometimes shine in the 
liofht of the sun at eveninor ^nd it is said that stranore 
things occurred there in the days of the ancients, 
which makes them thus to shine, while rocks of the 
kind in other places do not, — you travel on up this 
trail, crossing over the arroyos and foot-hills of the 
great mesa called Middle Mountain, until you come 
to the foot of the cliffs. Then you climb up back 
and forth, winding round and round, until you reach 
the top of the mountain, which is as flat as the floor 
of a house, merely being here and there traversed 
by small valleys covered with pinon and cedar, and 
threaded by trails made not only by the feet of our 
people but by deer and other animals. And so you 
go on and on, until, hardly knowing it, you have 
descended from the top of Middle Mountain, and 
found yourself in a wide plain covered with grass, 
and here and there clumps of trees. Beyond this 
valley is an elevated sandy plain, rather sunken in 
the middle, so that when it rains the water filters 
down into the soil of the depressed portion (which 
is wide enough to be a country in itself) and 

203 



204 Zufii Folk Tales 

nourishes the grasses there; so that most of the 
year they grow green and sweet. 

Now, a long, long tune ago, in this valley or 
basin there lived a village of Prairie-dogs, on fairly 
peaceable terms with Rattlesnakes, Adders, Chame- 
leons, Horned-toads, and Burrowing-owls. With 
the Owls they were especially friendly, looking at 
them as creatures of great gravity and sanctity. 
For this reason these Prairie-dogs and their com- 
panions never disturbed the councils or ceremonies 
of the Burrowing-owls, but treated them most re- 
spectfully, keeping at a distance from them when 
their dances were going on. 

It chanced one day that the Burrowing-owls were 
having a great dance all to themselves, rather early 
in the morning. The dance they were engaged in 
was one peculiarly prized by them, requiring no 
little dexterity in its execution. Each dancer, 
young man or maiden, carried upon his or her head 
a bowl of foam, and though their legs were crooked 
and their motions disjointed, they danced to the 
whistling of some and the clapping beaks of others, 
in perfect unison, and with such dexterity that they 
never spilled a speck of the foam on their sleek 
mantles of dun-black feather-work. 

It chanced this morning of the Foam-dance that 
a Coyote was nosing about for Grasshoppers and 
Prairie-dogs. So quite naturally he was prowling 
around the by-streets in the borders of the Prairie- 
dog town. His house where he lived with his old 
grandmother stood back to the westward, just over 
the elevations that bounded Sunken Country, among 



The Dance of the Burrowing-Ovvls 205 

the rocks. He heard the cHck-clack of the musi- 
cians and their shrill, funny little song : 

" I yami hota utchu tchapikya, 

Tokos ! tokos ! tokos ! tokos ! " 

So he pricked up his ears, and lifting his tail, trotted 
forward toward the level place between the hillocks 
and doorways of the village, where the Owls were 
dancing in a row. He looked at them with great 
curiosity, squatting on his haunches, the more com- 
posedly to observe them. Indeed, he became so 
much interested and amused by their shambling 
motions and clever evolutions, that he could no 
longer contain his curiosity. So he stepped for- 
ward, with a smirk and a nod toward the old master 
of ceremonies, and said : " My father, how are you 
and your children these many days ? " 

"Contented and happy," replied the old Owl, 
turning his attention to the dancing again. 

" Yes, but I observe you are dancing," said the 
Coyote. " A very fine dance, upon my word ! 
Charming ! Charming ! And why should you be 
dancing if you were not contented and happy, to 
be sure ? " 

" We are dancing," responded the Owl, " both for 
our pleasure and for the good of the town." 

'' True, true," replied the Coyote ; "but what 's 
that which looks like foam these dancers are carry- 
ing on their heads, and why do they dance in so 
limping a fashion ?" 

" You see, my friend," said the Owl, turning 
toward the Coyote, " we hold this to be a very 



2o6 Zufii Folk Tales 

sacred performance — very sacred indeed. Being 
such, these my children are initiated and so trained 
in the mysteries of the sacred society of which 
this is a custom that they can do very strange 
thines in the observance of our ceremonies. You 
ask what it is that looks like foam they are balanc- 
ing on their heads. Look more closely, friend. 
Do you not observe that it is their own grand- 
mothers' heads they have on, the feathers turned 
white with age ? " 

" By my eyes ! " exclaimed the Coyote, blinking 
and twitching his whiskers ; " it seems so." 

" And you ask also why they limp as they dance," 
said the Owl. " Now, this limp is essential to the 
proper performance of our dance — so essential, in 
fact, that in order to attain to it these my children 
go through the pain of having their legs broken. 
Instead of losing by this, they gain in a great many 
ways. Good luck always follows them. They are 
quite as spry as they were before, and enjoy, more- 
over, the distinction of performing a dance which 
no other people or creatures in the world are capa- 
ble of ! " 

"Dust and devils!" ejaculated the Coyote. 
" This is passing strange. A most admirable dance, 
upon my word ! Why, every bristle on my body 
keeps time to the music and their steps ! Look 
here, my friend, don't you think that I could learn 
that dance ?" 

" Well," replied the old Owl ; " it is rather hard 
to learn, and you have n't been initiated, you 
know ; but, still, if you are determined that you 



The Dance of the Burrowing-Owls 207 

would like to join the dance — by the way, have 
you a grandmother ? " 

"Yes, and a fine old woman she is," said he, 
twitchinpf his mouth in the direction of his house. 
" She lives there with me. I dare say she is 
looking after my breakfast now." 

" Very well," continued the old Owl, " if you care 
to join in our dance, fulfill the conditions, and I 
think we can receive you into our order." And he 
added, aside : " The silly fool ; the sneaking, im- 
pertinent wretch ! I will teach him to be sticking 
that sharp nose of his into other people's affairs!" 

" All right ! All right ! " cried the Coyote, ex- 
citedly. " Will it last long ? " 

" Until the sun is so bright that It hurts our 
eyes," said the Owl ; "a long time yet." 

" All riorht ! All riorht ! I '11 be back in a little 
while," said the Coyote ; and, switching his tail 
into the air, away he ran toward his home. When 
he came to the house, he saw his old grandmother 
on the roof, which was a rock beside his hole, gath- 
ering fur from some skins which he had brought 
home, to make up a bed for the Coyote's family. 

" Ha, my blessed grandmother ! " said the Coy- 
ote, "by means of your aid, what a fine thing I 
shall be able to do ! " 

The old woman was singing to herself when the 
Coyote dashed up to the roof where she was sitting, 
and, catching up a convenient leg-bone, whacked 
her over the pate and sawed her head off with the 
teeth of a deer. All bloody and soft as it was, he 
clapped it on his own head and raised himself on 



2o8 Zufii Folk Tales 

his hind-legs, bracing his tail against the ground, 
and letting his paws drop with the toes outspread, 
to imitate as nearly as possible the drooping wings 
of the dancing Owls. He found that it worked 
very well ; so, descending with the head in one paw 
and a stone in the other, he found a convenient 
sharp-edged rock, and, laying his legs across it, hit 
them a tremendous crack with the stone, which 
broke them, to be sure, into splinters. 

" Beloved Powers ! Oh ! " howled the Coyote. 
" Oh-o-o-o-o ! the dance may be a fine thing, but 
the initiation is anything else ! " 

However, with his faith unabated, he shook 
himself together and got up to walk. But 
he could walk only with his paws ; his hind-legs 
dragged helplessly behind him. Nevertheless, 
with great pain, and getting weaker and weaker 
every step of the way, he made what haste he 
could back to the Prairie-dog town, his poor old 
grandmother's head slung over his shoulders. 

When he approached the dancers, — for they 
were still dancing, — they pretended to be greatly 
delighted with their proselyte, and greeted him, 
notwithstanding his rueful countenance, with many 
congratulatory epithets, mingled with very proper 
and warm expressions of welcome. The Coyote 
looked sick and groaned occasionally and kept 
looking around at his feet, as though he would like 
to lick them. But the old Owl extended his wing 
and cautioned him not to interfere with the work- 
ing power of faith in this essential observance, and 
invited him (with a hem that very much resem- 



The Dance of the Burrowing-Owls 209 

bled a suppressed giggle), to join in their dance. 
The Coyote smirked and bowed and tried to stand 
up gracefully on his stumps, but fell over, his grand- 
mother's head rolling around in the dirt. He 
picked up the grisly head, clapped it on his crown 
again and raised himself, and with many a howl, 
which he tried in vain to check, began to prance 
around ; but ere long tumbled over again. The 
Burrowing-owls were filled with such merriment at 
his discomfiture that they laughed until they spilled 
the foam all down their backs and bosoms ; and, 
with a parting fling at the Coyote which gave him 
to understand that he had made a fine fool of him- 
self, and would know better than to pry into other 
people's business next time, skipped away to a safe 
distance from him. 

Then, seeing how he had been tricked, the Coy- 
ote fell to howling and clapping his thighs ; and, 
catching sight of his poor grandmother s head, all 
bloody and begrimed with dirt, he cried out in grief 
and anger : " Alas ! alas ! that it should have come 
to this ! You little devils ! I '11 be even with you ! 
I '11 smoke you out of your holes." 

" What will you smoke us out with ?" tauntingly 
asked the Burrowine-owls. 

" Ha ! you '11 find out. With yucca ! " 

"O! O! ha! ha!" laughed the Owls. "That 
is our succotash ! " 

" Ah, well ! I '11 smoke you out ! " yelled the 
Coyote, stung by their taunts. 

" What with ?" cried the Owls. 

" Grease- weed." 



2IO Zufii Folk Tales 

" He, ha ! ho, ho ! We make our mush-stew of 
that ! " 

" Ha! but I '11 smoke you out, nevertheless, you 
little beasts ! " 

" What with ? What with ?" shouted the Owls. 

" Yellow-top weeds," said he. 

"Ha, ha ! All right ; smoke away ! We make 
our sweet gruel with that, you fool ! " 

" I '11 fix you ! I '11 smoke you out ! I '11 suffo- 
cate the very last one of you ! " 

" What with ? What with ?" shouted the Owls, 
skipping around on their crooked feet. 

" Pitch-pine," snarled the Coyote. 

This frightened the Owls, for pitch-pine, even to 
this day, is sickening to them. Away they plunged 
into their holes, pell-mell. 

Then the Coyote looked at his poor old grand- 
mother's begrimed and bloody head, and cried out 
— just as Coyotes do now at sunset, I suppose — 
" Oh, my poor, poor grandmother ! So this is 
what they have caused me to do to you ! " And, 
tormented both by his grief and his pain, he took 
up the head of his grandmother and crawled back 
as best he could to his house. 

When he arrived there he managed to climb up 
to the roof, where her body lay stiff. He chafed 
her lees and sides, and washed the blood and dirt 
from her head, and got a bit of sinew, and sewed 
her head to her body as carefully as he could and 
as hastily. Then he opened her mouth, and, put- 
ting his muzzle to it, blew into her throat, in the 
hope of resuscitating her ; but the wind only leaked 



The Dance of the Burrowing-Owls 211 

out from tlie holes in her neck, and she gave no 
signs of animation. Then the Coyote mixed some 
pap of fine toasted meal and water and poured it 
down her throat, addressing her with vehement ex- 
pressions of regret at what he had done, and apol- 
ogy and solicitation that she should not mind, as 
he did n't mean it, and imploring her to revive. 
But the pap only trickled out between the stitches 
in her neck, and she grew colder and stiffer all the 
while ; so that at last the Coyote gave it up, and, 
moaning, he betook himself to a near clump of 
pifion trees, intent upon vengeance and designing 
to gather pitch with which to smoke the Owls to 
death. But, weakened by his injuries, and filled 
with grief and shame and mortification, when he 
got there he could only lie down. 

He was so eno^rossed in howlincr and thinking of 
his woes and pains that a Horned-toad, who saw 
him, and who hated him because of the insults he 
had frequently suffered from him and his kind, 
crawled into the throat of the beast without his no- 
ticing it. Presently the little creature struck up a 
song : 

" Tsakina muuu-ki 

lyami Kushina tsoiyakya 
Aisiwaiki muki, muki, 
Muuu ka ! " 

" Ah-a-a-a-a-a," the Coyote was groaning. But 
when he heard this song, apparently far off, and 
yet so near, he felt very strangely inside, so he 
thought and no doubt wondered if it were the song 



212 Zuni Folk Tales 

of some musician. At any rate, he lifted his head 
and looked all around, but hearing nothing, lay 
down aofain and bemoaned his fate. 

Then the Horned-toad sang again. This time 
the Coyote called out immediately, and the Horned- 
toad answered : " Here I am." But look as he 
would, the Coyote could not find the Toad. So 
he listened for the song again, and heard it, and 
asked who it was that was singing. The Horned- 
toad replied that it was he. But still the Coyote 
could not find him. A fourth time the Horned- 
toad sang, and the Coyote began to suspect that it 
was under him. So he lifted himself to see ; and 
one of the spines on the Horned-toad's neck 
pricked him, and at the same time the little fellow 
called out : " Here I am, you idiot, inside of you ! 
I came upon you here, and being a medicine-man 
of some prominence, I thought I would explore 
your vitals and see what was the matter." 

" By the souls of my ancestors ! " exclaimed the 
Coyote, " be careful what you do in there ! " 

The Horned-toad replied by laying his hand on 
the Coyote's liver, and exclaiming : " What is this 
I feel?" 

" Where ?" said the Coyote. 

" Down here." 

" Merciful daylight ! it is my liver, without 
which no one can have solidity of any kind, or a 
proper vitality. Be very careful not to injure that ; 
if you do, I shall die at once, and what will become 
of my poor wife and children ? " 

Then the Horned-toad climbed up to the stomach 



The Dance of the Burrowing^-Owls 



^5 



21 



of the Coyote. "What is this, my friend ?" said 
he, feehng the sides of the Coyote's food-bag. 
" What is it Hke ? " asked the Coyote. 
"Wrinkled," said the Horned-toad, "and filled 
with a fearful mess of stuff ! " 

" Oh ! mercy ! mercy ! good daylight ! My 
precious friend, be very careful ! That is the very 
source of my being — my stomach itself ! " 

"Very well," said the Horned-toad. Then he 
moved on somewhat farther and touched the heart 
of the Coyote, which startled him fearfully. " What 
is this.^" cried the Horned-toad. 

" Mercy, mercy ! what are you doing ? " ex- 
claimed the Coyote. 

" Nothing— feeling of your vitals," was the reply 
" What is it?" 

" Oh, what is it like ? " said the Coyote. 
" Shaped like a pine-nut," said the Horned-toad, 
"as nearly as I can make out; it keeps leaping 
so." 

" Leaping, is it ? " howled the Coyote. " Mercy ! 
my friend, get away from there ! That is the very 
heart of my being, the thread that ties my exist- 
ence, the home of my emotions, and my knowledge 
of daylight. Go away from there, do, I pray )-ou ! 
If you should scratch it ever so little, it would be 
the death of me, and what would my wife and chil- 
dren do ?" 

"Hey!" said the Horned-toad, "you wouldn't 
be apt to insult me and my people any more if I 
touched you up there a little, would you ? " And he 
hooked one of his horns into the Coyote's heart. 



214 Zuni Folk Tales 

The Coyote gave one gasp, straightened out his 
limbs, and expired. 

" Ha, ha ! you villain ! Thus would you have 
done to me, had you found the chance ; thus unto 
you " — saying which he found his way out and 
sought the nearest water-pocket he could find. 

So you see from this, which took place in the 
days of the ancients, it may be inferred that the in- 
stinct of meddling with everything that did not 
concern him, and making a universal nuisance of 
himself, and desiring to imitate everything that he 
sees, ready to jump into any trap that is laid for 
him, is a confirmed instinct with the Coyote, for 
those are precisely his characteristics today. 

Furthermore, Coyotes never insult Horned-toads 
nowadays, and they keep clear of Burrowing-owls. 
And ever since then the Burrowing-owls have been 
speckled with gray and white all over their backs 
and bosoms, because their ancestors spilled foam 
over themselves in laughing at the silliness of the 
Coyote. 

Thus shortens my story. 



THE COYOTE WHO KILLED THE 
DEMON SIUIUKI : 

OR WHY COYOTES RUN THEIR NOSES INTO DEADFALLS 

IT was very long ago, in the days of the ancients. 
There stood a village in the canon south of 
Thunder Mountain where the Gods of Prey all 
lived with their sisters and mothers : the Mountain 
Lion, the great Black Bear, the Wildcat, the Gray 
Wolf, the Eagle, and even the Mole — all the Gods 
of Prey lived there together with their mothers and 
sisters. Day after day they went out hunting, for 
hunting was their business of life, and they were 
great hunters. 

Now, right up on the edge of Thunder Mountain 
there lived a spotted Demon, named Siuiuki, and 
whenever the people of the towns round about 
went hunting, he lay in wait for them and ate them 
up. 

After a long while the Gods of Prey grew dis- 
contented, and they said to one another : " What 
in the world can we do ? None of the children of 
men ever make sacrifices to us, for, whenever our 
children among men go out hunting, this Demon 
who lives on the top of Thunder Mountain de- 
stroys them and eats them up. What in the world 
can be done ?" 

" It would be a good thing if we could kill him," 
said some of them. 

Now, just down below the house of the Demon, 

215 



2i6 Zuni Folk Tales 

in Wolf Canon, lived a Coyote, and he had found 
out where the Gods of Prey lived, and whenever 
he wanted a feast of sinew and gristle, he went below 
their houses and gnawed at the bones that they had 
thrown away, and thus it happened that when the 
gods were talking together in this way he was near 
their doorway gnawing a bone, and he heard all 
they said. 

" Yes," said one or two of the others, " and if 
anybody will go and kill Siuiuki, we will give him 
our sister to marry." 

" Aha ! " said the Coyote to himself. " Ha, ha ! " 
— and he dropped the bone he was gnawing and 
cut off for home as fast as ever he could. 

Next morning, bright and early, he began to dig 
into the side of the canon below the Demon's 
home, and after he had dug a great hollow in the 
side of the arroyo, he rolled a heavy stone into it, 
and found another, which he placed beside it. 
Then he brought a great many leg-bones of deer 
and antelope. Then he found a large bowl and 
put a lot of yellow medicine-fluid in it, and placed 
it beside the rock. He then sat down and began 
to crack the leg-bones with the two stones he had 
brought there. 

The old Demon was not in the habit of rising 
very early, but when he arose that morning he 
came out and sat down on the edge of the cliff ; 
there the Coyote was, battering away at the bones 
and pretending to bathe his own lips with the 
medicine-fluid. 

" I wonder what in the world that little sneak is 



Coyote who Killed the Demon 217 

doing down there," said the old Demon. So he 
put on his war-badge and took his bow and arrows, 
as though he were going out to hunt, and started 
down to where the Coyote was. 

" Hello ! " said the Coyote, " how did you pass 
the night?" 

" What in the world are you doing here ?" asked 
the Demon. 

" Why, don't you know ? " replied the Coyote. 
" This is the way I train myself for running, so as 
to catch the deer ; I can run faster than any deer 
in the country. With my medicine, here, I take the 
swiftness out of these bones." 

" Is it possible ?" said the old Demon. 

"Of course it is," said the Coyote. "There is 
no deer that can run away from me." 

"Will you show me?" said the Demon, eagerly. 

" Why, yes, of course I will ; and then we will 
go hunting together." 

" Good, good ! " said the old Demon. " I have a 
hard time catching deer and antelope." 

" Well, now, you sit down right over there and 
watch me," said the Coyote, " and I will show you 
all about it." 

So he laid his left leg over the rock, and then 
slily took an antelope bone and laid it by the side 
of it. Then he picked up a large stone and 
struck it as hard as ever he could against the 
bone. Whack! went the stone, and it split the bone 
into splinters ; and the Coyote pretended that it 
was the bone of his own leg. 

" Aye ! Ah ! Oh ! " exclaimed he. " But then it 



2i8 Zuni Folk Tales 

will get well ! " Still crying " Oh ! Ah ! " he splashed 
the legf with the medicine-water and rubbed it. 
" Did n't I tell you ?" said he, " it is all right now." 
And then away he went and ran like lightning 
round and round on the plain below, and rushed 
back again. " Did n't I tell you so?" said he. 

" Fury ! what a runner it makes out of you," said 
the old Demon, and his eyes stuck out more than 
ever. " Let me try it now." 

" Hold on, hold on," said the Coyote ; " I have 
not half finished yet." 

So he repeated the experiment with his other 
leg, and made great ado, as if it hurt him more 
than ever. But, pretending to cure himself with 
the medicine-water, he ran round and round on the 
plain below so fast that he fairly left a streak of 
dust behind him. 

" Why, indeed, you are one of the fastest runners 
I ever saw ! " said the Demon, rubbing his eyes. 

Then the Coyote repeated the experiment first 
with his left paw and then with his right ; and the 
last time he ran more swiftly than before. 

" Why, do you mean to say that if I do that I 
can run as fast as you do ? " said the Demon. 

" Certainly," replied the Coyote. " But it will 
hurt you." 

"Ho! who cares for a little hurt?" said the 
Demon. 

" Oh ! but it hurts terribly," said the Coyote, 
*' and I am afraid you won't have the pluck to go 
through with it." 

" Do you think I am a baby ? " said the old De- 



Coyote who Killed the Demon 219 

mon, getting up, — " or a woman, that I should be 
afraid to pound my legs and arms ? " 

" Well, I only thought I 'd tell you how much 
it hurts," said the Coyote ; " but if you want to try 
it yourself, why, go ahead. There 's one thing cer- 
tain : when you make yourself as swift as I am, 
there 's no deer in all the country that can get 
away from us two." 

" What shall I do ? " said the Demon. 

" You just sit right down there, and I '11 show 
you how," said the Coyote. So the Demon sat 
down by the rock. 

" There, now, you just lay your leg right over 
that stone and take the other rock and strike your 
leg just as hard as you can ; and as soon as you 
have done, bathe it in the medicine-water. Then 
do just the same way to the other." 

" All right," said the Demon. So he laid his leg 
over the rock, and picking up the other stone, 
brought it down with might and main across his 
thigh — so hard, indeed, that he crushed the bone 
into splinters. 

"Oh, my! Oh, my! what shall I do?" shouted 
the Demon. 

" Be patient, be patient ; it will get well," said 
the Coyote, and he splashed it with the medicine- 
fluid. 

Then, picking up the stone again, the Demon hit 
the other thigh even harder, from pain. 

"It will get well, my friend ; it will get well," 
shouted the Coyote ; and he splashed more of the 
medicine-water on the two wounded legs. 



220 Zuni Folk Tales 

Then the Demon picked up the stone once more, 
and, laying his left arm across the other stone, 
pounded that also until it was broken. 

" Hold on ; let me bathe it for you," said the 
Coyote, " Does it hurt ? Oh, well, it will get 
well. Just wait until you have doctored the other 
arm, and then in a few minutes you will be all 
right." 

" Oh, dear ! Oh, dear ! " groaned the Demon. 
" How in the world can I doctor the other arm, for 
my left arm is broken ? " 

'* Lay it across the rock, my friend," said the 
Coyote, "and I '11 doctor it for you." 

So the Demon did as he was bidden, and the 
Coyote brought the stone down with might and 
main against his arm. " Have patience, my friend, 
have patience," said he, as he bathed the injured 
limb with more of the medicine-water. But the 
Demon only groaned and howled, and rolled over 
and over in the dust with pain. 

" Ha, ha ! " laughed the Coyote, as he keeled a 
somersault over the rocks and ran off over the 
plain. " How do you feel now, old man ?" 

" But it hurts ! It hurts ! " cried the Demon. 
" I shall never get well ; it will kill me ! " 

" Of course it will," laughed the Coyote. " That 's 
just what I wanted it to do, you old fool ! " 

So the old Demon lay down and died from sheer 
pain. 

Then the Coyote took the Demon's knife from 
him, and, cutting open his breast, tore out his 
heart, wind-pipe, and all. Then, stealing the war- 



Coyote who Killed the Demon 221 

badge that the Demon had worn, he cut away as fast 
as ever he could for the home of the Prey-gods. 
Before noon he neared their house, and, just as he 
ran up into the plaza in front of it, the youngest 
sister of the Prey-gods came out to hang up some 
meat to dry. Now, her brothers had all gone hunt- 
ing ; not one of them was at home. 

" I say, wife," said the Coyote. " Wife ! Wife !" 

" Humph !" said the girl. " Impertinent scoun- 
drel ! I wonder where he is and who he is that 
has the impudence to call me his wife, when he 
knows that I have never been married ! " 

" Wife ! Wife ! " shouted the Coyote again. 

** Away with you, you shameless rascal ! " cried 
the girl, in indignation. Then she looked around 
and spied the Coyote sitting there on the ash-heap, 
with his nose in the air, as though he were the 
biggest fellow in the world. 

" Clear out, you wretch ! " cried the girl. 

" Softly, softly," replied the Coyote. " Do you 
remember what your brothers said last night ? " 

"What was that?" said the girl. 

" Why, whoever would kill the speckled Demon, 
they declared, should have you for his wife." 

" Well, what of that ? " said the girl. 

" Oh, nothing," replied the Coyote, " only I 've 
killed him ! " And, holding up the Demon's heart 
and war-badge, he stuck his nose in the air again. 

So the poor girl said not a word, but sat there 
until the Coyote called out : " I say, wife, come 
down and take me up ; I can't climb the ladders." 

So the poor girl went down the ladder, took her 



222 Zuni Folk Tales 

foul-smelling husband in her arms, and climbed up 
with him, 

" Now, take me in with you," said the Coyote. 
So she did as she was bidden. Then she was 
about to mix some dough, but the Coyote kept 
getting in her way. 

" Get out of the way a minute, won't you ? " said 
the girl, " until I cook something for you." 

" I want you to come and sit down with me," 
said the Coyote, " and let me kiss you, for you 
know you are my wife, now." So the poor girl had 
to submit to the ill-smelling- creature's embraces. 

Presently along came her brother, the Gray 
Wolf, but he was a very good-natured sort of fellow ; 
so he received the Coyote pleasantly. Then along 
came the Bear, with a big antelope over his shoulder; 
but he did n't say anything, for he was a lazy, good- 
natured fellow. Then presently the other brothers 
came in, one by one ; but the Mountain Lion was 
so late in returning that they began to look anx- 
iously out for him. When they saw him coming 
from the north with more meat and more game 
than all the others too^ether had brouLiht, he was 
evidently not in good humor, for as he approached 
the house he exclaimed, with a howl : "'Hti-hu-ya ! " 

" There he goes again," said the brothers and 
sisters, all in a chorus. " Always out of temper with 
something." 

" Hti-hu-ya / " exclaimed the Mountain Lion 
again, louder than before. And, as he mounted 
the ladder, he exclaimed for a third time : " Hu-Jlu- 
ya /" and, throwing his meat down, entered swear- 



Coyote who Killed the Demon 223 

ing and growling until his brothers were ashamed of 
him, and told him he had better behave himself. 

" Come and eat," said the sister, as she brought 
a bowl of meat and put it on the floor. 

'' Hii-Jui-ya !'' again exclaimed the Mountain 
Lion, as he came nearer and sat down to eat. 
" What in the world is the matter with you, sister ? 
You smell just like a Coyote. Hu-hu-ya f' 

" Have you no more decency than to come home 
and scold your sister in that way ? " exclaimed the 
Wolf. " I 'm disgusted with you." 

'' Hu'hu-ya ! '' reiterated the Mountain Lion. 

Now, when the Coyote had heard the Mountain 
Lion coming, he had sneaked off into a corner ; 
but he stuck his sharp nose out, and the Mountain 
Lion espied it. '' Hic-hu-ya / '' sdiid he. "Sling 
that bad-smelling beast out of the house ! Kick 
him out ! " cried the old man, with a growl. So 
the sister, fearing that her brother would eat her 
husband up, took the Coyote in her arms and car- 
ried him into another room. 

" Now, stay there and keep still, for brother is 
very cross ; but then he is always cross if things 
don't go right," she said. 

So when evenino^ came her brothers beean to 

discuss where they would go hunting the next 

day ; and the Coyote, who was listening at the 

door, heard them. So he called out: "Wife! 

Wife ! " 

" Shom-me ! " remarked old Long Tail. " Shut 
up, you dirty whelp." And as the sister arose to 
go to see what her husband wanted, the Mountain 



224 Zuni Folk Tales 

Lion remarked : " You had better sling that foul- 
smelling cub of yours over the roof." 

No sooner had the girl entered than the Coyote 
began to brag what a runner he was, and to cut 
around at a great rate. 

" Shom-me ! " exclaimed the Mountain Lion again. 
" A Coyote always will make a Coyote of himself, 
foul-smelling wretch ! Hu-hu-ya / " 

" Shut up, and behave yourself ! " cried the Wolf. 
" Don't you know any better than to talk about your 
brother-in-law in that way ? " But neither the Coyote 
nor the girl could sleep that night for the growlings 
and roarings of their big brother, the Long Tail. 

When the brothers began to prepare for the 
hunt the next morning, out came the Coyote all 
ready to accompany them. "You, you?" said the 
Mountain Lion. "You going to hunt with us? 
You conceited sneak ! " 

" Let him go if he wants to," said the Wolf. 

'''Hu-hu-ya! Fine company!" remarked the 
Mountain Lion. " If you fellows want to walk 
with him, you may. There 's one thing certain, 
I '11 not be seen in his company," and away strode 
the old fellow, lashing his tail and growling as he 
went. So the Coyote, taking a luncheon of dried 
meat that his wife put up for him, sneaked along 
behind with his tail dragging in the dust. Finally 
they all reached the mountain where they intended 
to hunt, and soon the Mountain Lion and the Bear 
started out to drive in a herd of antelope that 
they had scented in the distance. Presently along 
rushed the leaders of the herd. 



Coyote who Killed the Demon 225 

" Now, then, I '11 show your cross old brother 
whether I can hunt or not," cried the Coyote, and 
away he rushed right into the herd of antelope and 
deer before anyone could restrain him. Of course 
he made a Coyote of himself, and away went the 
deer in all directions. Nevertheless, the brothers, 
who were great hunters, succeeded in catching a 
few of them ; and, just as they sat down to lunch, 
the Mountain Lion returned with a big elk on his 
shoulders. 

" Where is our sweet-scented brother-in-law ? " he 
asked. 

" Nobody knows," replied they. " He rushed off 
after the deer and antelope, and that was the last 
of him." 

" Of course the beast will make a Coyote of 
himself. But he can go till he can go no longer, 
for all I care," added the Mountain Lion, as he sat 
down to eat. 

Presently along came the Coyote. 

"Where's your game, my fine hunter?" asked 
the Mountain Lion. 

" They all got away from me," whined the Coyote. 

" Of course they did, you fool ! " sneered the 
Mountain Lion. " The best thing that you can do 
is to go home and see your wife. Here, take this 
meat to sister," said he, slinging him a haunch of 
venison. 

" Where 's the road ? " asked the Coyote. 

"Well," said the Wolf, "follow that path right 
over there until you come to where it forks ; then 
be sure to take the right-hand trail, for if you 



2 26 Zuni Folk Tales 

follow the left-hand trail it will lead you away from 
home and into trouble." 

" Which trail did you say ? " cried the Coyote. 

" Shom-me ! " aeain exclaimed the Mountain Lion. 

"Oh, yes," hastily added the Coyote; "the 
right-hand trail. No, the left-hand trail." 

"Just what you might expect," growled the 
Mountain Lion. " Already the fool has forgotten 
what you told him. Well, as for me, he can go on 
the left-hand trail if he wants to, and the farther he 
goes the better." 

" Now, be sure and take the right-hand trail," 
called the Wolf, as the Coyote started. 

" I know, I know," cried the Coyote ; and away 
he went with his heavy haunch of venison slung 
over his shoulder. After a while he came to the 
fork in the trail. " Let me see," said he, " it 's the 
left-hand trail, it seems to me. No, the right-hand 
trail. Well, I declare, I 've forgotten ! Perhaps it 
is the right-hand trail, and maybe it is the left- 
hand trail. Yes, it is the left-hand trail. Now 
I 'm certain." And, picking up his haunch of veni- 
son, away he trotted along the left-hand trail. 
Presently he came to a steep cliff and began to 
climb it. But he had no sooner reached the middle 
than a lot of Chimney-swallows began to fly around 
his head and pick at his eyes, and slap him on the 
nose with their wings, 

" Oh, dear ! oh, dear ! " exclaimed the Coyote. 
" Aye ! aye ! " and he bobbed his head from side to 
side to dodofe the Swallows, until he missed his 
footing, and down he tumbled, heels over head, — 



Coyote who Killed the Demon 227 

meat, Coyote, and all, — until he struck a great pile 
of rocks below, and was dashed to pieces. 

That was the end of the Coyote ; but not of my 
story. 

Now, the brothers went on huntingr agfain. Then, 
one by one, they returned home. As before, the 
Mountain Lion came in last of all. He smelt all 
about the room. " Whew !" exclaimed he. " It still 
smells here as if twenty Coyotes had been around. 
But it seems to me that our fine brother-in-law is n't 
anywhere about." 

" No," responded the rest, with troubled looks on 
their faces. " Nobody has seen anything of him 
yet. 

'■'Shorn — m-mf" remarked the Mountain Lion 
again. " Did n't I tell you, brothers, that he was a 
fool and would forget your directions ? I say 
I told you that before he started. Well, for my 
part, I hope the beast has gone so far that he 
will never return," and with that he ate his supper. 

When supper was over, the sister said : " Come, 
brothers, let 's go and hunt for my husband." 

At first the Mountain Lion grrowled and swore a 
great deal ; but at last he consented to go. When 
they came to where the trails forked, there were the 
tracks of the Coyote on the left-hand trail. 

" The idiot ! " exclaimed the Mountain Lion. " I 
hope he has fallen off the cliff and broken every 
bone in his body ! " 

When at last the party reached the mountain, 
sure enough, there lay the body of the Coyote, 
with not a whole bone in him except his head. 



228 Zuni Folk Tales 

" Good enough for you," growled the Mountain 
Lion, as he picked up a great stone and, tu-uni / 
threw it down with all his strength upon the head 
of the Coyote. 

That 's what happened a great while ago. And 
for that reason whenever a Coyote sees a bait of 
meat inside of a stone deadfall he is sure to stick 
his nose in and get his head mashed for his pains. 

Thus shortens my story. 



HOW THE COYOTES TRIED TO STEAL 

THE CHILDREN OF THE 

SACRED DANCE 

IN the times of the ancients, when our people 
Hved in various places about the valley of Zuni 
where ruins now stand, it is said that an old Coyote 
lived in Cedar Canon with his family, which included 
a fine litter of pups. It is also said that at this time 
there lived on the crest of Thunder Mountain, back 
of the broad rock column or pinnacle which guards 
its western portion, one of the gods of the Sacred 
Drama Dance {Kdkd)\ named K'yamakwe, with his 
children, many in number and altogether like him- 
self. 

• The Kdkd, or Sacred Drama Dance, is represented by a great variety 
of masks and costumes worn by Zuni dancers during the performance of 
this remarkable dramatic ceremony. Undoubtedly many of the traditional 
characters of the Sacred Drama thus represented are conventionalizations 
of the mythic conceptions or personifications of animal attributes. There- 
fore many of these characters partake at once of the characteristics, in ap- 
pearance as well as in other ways, of animals and men. The example in 
point is a good illustration of this. The K'yan.akwe are supposed to have 
been a most wonderful and powerful tribe of demi-gods, inhabiting a great 
valley and range of mesas some forty miles south of Zuni. Their powers 
over the atmospheric phenomena of nature and over all the herbivorous ani- 
mals are supposed to have been absolute. Their attitude toward man was 
at times inimical, at times friendly or beneficent. Such a relationship, con- 
trolled simply by either laudatory or propitiatory worship, was supposed to 
hold spiritually, still, between these and other beings represented in the 
Sacred Drama and men. It is believed that through the power of breath 
communicated by these ancient gods to men, from one man to another man, 
and thus from generation to generation, an actual connection has been kept 
up between initiated members of the Kdkd drama and these original demi- 
god characters which it represents ; so that when a member is properly 
dressed in the costume of any one of these characters, a ceremony (the 

220 



230 Zuni Folk Tales 

One day the old Coyote of Cedar Canon went 
out hunting, and as he was prowling around among 
the saofe-bushes below Thunder Mountain, he heard 
the clanof and rattle and the shrill cries of the 
K'yamakwe. He pricked up his ears, stuck his 
nose into the air, sniffed about and looked all 
around, and presently discovered the K'yamakwe 
children running rapidly back and forth on the very 
edge of the mountain. 

" Delight of my senses, what pretty creatures 
they are ! Good for me ! " he piped, in a jovial 

description of which is too long for insertion here) accompanying the putting 
on of the mask is supposed not only to place him en rafipori spiritually with 
the character he represents, but even to possess him with the spirit of that 
character or demi-god. He is, therefore, so long as he remains disguised as 
one of these demi-gods, treated as if he were actually that being which he 
personates. One of the K'yamakwe is represented by means of a mask, 
round and smooth-headed, with little black eyes turned up at the corners so 
as to represent a segment of a diminishing spiral ; the color of the face is 
green, and it is separated from the rest of the head by a line composed of 
alternate blocks of black and yellow ; the crown and back of the head are 
snow-white ; and the ears are pendent and conical in shape, being composed 
of husks or other paper-like material ; the mouth is round, and furnished 
with a four-pointed beak of husks, which extends two or three inches out- 
ward and spreads at the end like the petals of a half-closed lily ; round the 
neck is a collar of fox fur, and covering the body are flowing robes of sacred 
embroidered mantles, which (notwithstanding the gay ornaments and other 
appurtenances of the costume) have, in connection with the expression of the 
mask, a spectral effect ; the feet are encased in brilliantly painted mocca- 
sins, of archaic form, and the wrists laden with shell bracelets and bow- 
guards. When the long file of these strange figures making up the 
K'yamakwe Drama Dance comes in from the southward to the dance 
plazas of the pueblo, each member of it bears on his back freshly slain deer, 
antelope, rabbits, and other game animals or portions of them in abundance, 
made up in packages, highly decorated with tufts of evergreen, and painted 
toys for presentation to the children. In one hand are carried bows and 
arrows, and in the other a peculiar rattle or clanger made of the shoulder- 
blades of deer. The wonder expressed by the coyote as the story goes on, 
and his excessive admiration of the children of the K'yamakwe may there- 
fore be understood. 



Children of the Sacred Dance 231 

voice. " I am the finder of children. I must cap- 
ture the little fellows tomorrow, and bring them up 
as Coyotes ought to be brought up. Are n't they 
handsome, though ? " 

All this he said to himself, in a fit of conceit, 
with his nose in the air (presumptuous cur!), planning 
to steal the children of a god ! He hunted no 
more that day, but ran home as fast as he could, 
and, arriving there, he said : " Wife ! Wife ! O wife ! 
I have discovered a number of the prettiest waifs 
one ever saw. They are children of the Kdkd, but 
what matters that ? They are there, running back 
and forth and clanging their rattles along the very 
edge of Thunder Mountain. I mean to steal them 
tomorrow, every one of them, and bring them 
here ! " 

" Mercy on us ! " exclaimed the old Coyote's 
wife. " There are children enough and to spare 
already. What in the world can we do with all of 
them, you fool ? " 

"But they are pretty," said the Coyote. "Im- 
mensely fine ! Every Coyote in the country would 
envy us the possession of them ! " 

" But you say they are many," continued the 
wife. 

"Well, yes, a good many," said the Coyote. 

"Well, why not divide them among our asso- 
ciated clans?" suoforested the old woman. "You 
never can capture them alone ; it is rare enough 
that you capture anything alone, leave out the chil- 
dren of the K'yamakwe. Get your relatives to help 
you, and divide the children amongst them." 



232 Zuni Folk Tales 

" Well, now, come to think of it, it is a good 
plan," said the Coyote, with his nose on his neck. 
" If I get up this expedition I '11 be a big chief, 
won't I? Hurrah! Here's for it! "he shouted; 
and, switching his tail in the face of his wife, he 
shot out of the hole and ran away to a high rock, 
where,' squatting down with a most important air 
and his nose lifted high, he cried out : 

" Au hii Id-d-d-d ! 

Su Honiaya-kwe I 
Su Kemaya-kwe ! 
Su Ayalla-kwe ! 
Su Kutsuku-kwe ! 

[Listen ye all ! 

Coyotes of the Cedar-canon tribe ! 
Coyotes of the Sunflower-stalk-plain tribe ! 
Coyotes of the Lifted-stone-mountain tribe ! 
Coyotes of the Place-of-rock-gullies tribe !] 

I have instructions for you this day. I have 
found waif children many — of the K'yamakwe, the 
young. I would steal the waif-children many, of 
the K'yamakwe, the young. I would steal them 
tomorrow, that they may be adopted of us. I 
would have your aid in the stealing of the K'yama- 
kwe young. Listen ye all, and tomorrow gather 
in council. Thus much I instruct ye : 

" Coyotes of the Cedar-canon tribe ! 
Coyotes of the Sunflower-stalk-plain tribe ! 
Coyotes of the Lifted-stone-mountain tribe ! 
Coyotes of the Place-of-rock-gullies tribe ! " 

It was growing dark, and immediately from all 
quarters, in dark places under the canons and 



Children of the Sacred Dance 233 

arroyos, issued answering howls and howls. You 
should have seen that crowd of Coyotes the next 
morning, large and small, old and young, — all four 
tribes gathered together in the plain below Thun- 
der Mountain ! 

When they had all assembled, the Coyote who 
had made the discovery mounted an ant-hill, sat 
down, and, lifting his paw, was about to give direc- 
tions with the air of a chief when an ant bit him. 
He lost his dignity, but resumed it again on the 
top of a neighboring rock. Again he stuck his 
nose into the air and his paw out, and with ridicu- 
lous assumption informed the Coyotes that he was 
chief of them all and that they would do well to pay 
attention to his directions. He then showed him- 
self much more skilful than you might have 
expected. As you know, the cliff of Thunder 
Mountain is very steep, especially that part back of 
the two standing rocks. Well, this was the direc- 
tion of the Coyote : 

" One of you shall place himself at the base of 
the mountain ; another shall climb over him, and 
the first one shall grasp his tail ; and another over 
them, and his tail shall be grasped by the second, 
and so on until the top is reached. Hang tight, 
my friends, every one of you, and every one fall in 
line. Eructate thoroughly before you do so. If 
you do not, we may be in a pretty mess ; for, sup- 
posing that any one along the line should hiccough, 
he would lose his hold, and down we would all fall ! " 

So the Coyotes all at once began to curve their 
necks and swell themselves up and strain and 



234 Zuni Folk Tales 

wriggle and belch wind as much as possible. Then 
all fell into a line and grabbed each other's tails, 
and thus they extended themselves in a long string 
up the very face of Thunder Mountain. A ridicu- 
lous little pup was at one end and a good, strong, 
grizzled old fellow — no other than the chief of the 
party — at the other. 

" Souls of my ancestors ! Hang tight, my friends ! 
Hang tight! Hang tight!" said he, when, sud- 
denly, one near the top, in the agitation of the 
moment, began to sneeze, lost his hold, and down 
the whole string, hundreds of them, fell, and were 
completely flattened out among the rocks. 

The warrior of the Kdkd — he of the Long Horn, 
with frightful, staring eyes, and visage blue with 
rage, — bow and war-club in hand, was hastening 
from the sacred lake in the west to rescue the chil- 
dren of the K'yamakwe. When he arrived they 
had been rescued already, so, after storming around 
a little and mauling such of the Coyotes as were 
not quite dead, he set to skin them all. 

And ever since then you will observe that the 
dancers of the Long Horn have blue faces, and when- 
ever they arrive in our pueblo wear collars of coy- 
ote-skin about their necks. That is the way they 
got them. Before that they had no collars. It is 
presumable that that is the reason why they bellow 
so and have such hoarse voices, having previously 
taken cold, every one of them, for the want of fur 
collars. 

Thus shortens my story. 



THE COYOTE AND THE BEETLE 

IN remote times, after our ancients were settled at 
Middle Ant Hill, a little thing occurred which 
will explain a great deal. 

My children, you have doubtless seen Tip-beetles. 
They run around on smooth, hard patches of 
ground in spring time and early summer, kicking 
their heels into the air and thrusting their heads 
into any crack or hole they find. 

Well, in ancient times, on the pathway leading 
around to Fat Mountain, there was one of these 
Beetles running about in all directions in the sun- 
shine, when a Coyote came trotting along. He 
pricked up his ears, lowered his nose, arched his 
neck, and stuck out his paw toward the Beetle. 
" Ha ! " said he, " I shall bite you !" 

The Beetle immediately stuck his head down 
close to the ground, and, lifting one of his antennae 
deprecatingly, exclaimed : " Hold on ! Hold on, 
friend ! Wait a bit, for the love of mercy ! I hear 
something very strange down below here ! " 

" Humph ! " replied the Coyote. " What do you 
hear ? " 

" Hush ! hush !" cried the Beetle, with his head 
still to the ground. *' Listen ! " 

So the Coyote drew back and listened most at- 
tentively. By-and-by the Beetle lifted himself 
with a lonor s'lQ-h of relief. 

235 



236 Zuni Folk Tales 

''Okwef' exclaimed the Coyote. "What was 
going on ? " 

" The Good Soul save us ! " exclaimed the Beetle, 
with a shake of his head. " I heard them saying 
down there that tomorrow they would chase away 
and thoroughly chastise everybody who defiled the 
public trails of this country, and they are making 
ready as fast as they can ! " 

" Souls of my ancestors ! " cried the Coyote. " I 
have been loitering along this trail this very morn- 
ing, and have defiled it repeatedly. I '11 cut ! " And 
away he ran as fast as he could go. 

The Beetle, in pure exuberance of spirits, turned 
somersaults and stuck his head in the sand until it 
was quite turned. 

Thus did the Beetle in the days of the ancients 
save himself from being bitten. Consequently the 
Tip-beetle has that strange habit of kicking his 
heels into the air and sticking his head in the sand. 

Thus shortens my story. 



HOW THE COYOTE DANCED WITH 
THE BLACKBIRDS 

ONE late autumn day in the times of the an- 
cients, a large council of Blackbirds were 
gathered, fluttering and chattering, on the smooth, 
rocky slopes of Gorge Mountain, northwest of 
Zufii. Like ourselves, these birds, as you are well 
aware, congregate together in autumn time, when 
the harvests are ripe, to indulge in their festivities 
before going into winter quarters ; only we do not 
move away, while they, on strong wings and swift, re- 
treat for a time to the Land of Everlasting Summer. 
Well, on this particular morning they were 
making a great noise and having a grand dance, 
and this was the way of it : They would gather in 
one vast flock, somewhat orderly in its disposition, 
on the sloping face of Gorge Mountain, — the older 
birds in front, the younger ones behind, — and down 
the slope, chirping and fluttering, they would hop, 
hop, hop, singing : 

" Ketchu, Ketchu, ontila, ontila, 
Ketchu, Ketchu, oniild, ontila! 
Ashokta a yd-a-laa Ke-e-tchu^ 
Ontila, 
Ontila !" — 

Blackbirds, Blackbirds, dance away, O, dance away, O ! 
Blackbirds, Blackbirds, dance away, O, dance away, O ! 
Down the Mountain of the Gorges, Blackbirds, 
Dance away, O ! 
Dance away, O ! — 
237 



238 Zuni Folk Tales 

and, spreading their wings, with many a flutter, 
flurry, and scurry, keh keh, — keh keh, — kck kek, — 
keh keh, — they would fly away into the air, swirling 
off in a dense, black flock, circling far upward and 
onward ; then, wheeling about and darting down, 
they would dip themselves in the broad spring 
which flows out at the foot of the mountain, and re- 
turn to their dancing place on the rocky slopes. 

A Coyote was out hunting (as if he could catch 
anything, the beast ! ) and saw them, and was en- 
raptured. 

" You beautiful creatures ! " he exclaimed. " You 
graceful dancers ! Delight of my senses ! How 
do you do that, anyway ? Could n't I join in your 
dance — the first part of it, at least ? " 

" Why, certainly ; yes," said the Blackbirds. 
" We are quite willing," the masters of the cere- 
mony said. 

" Well," said the Coyote, " I can get on the 
slope of the rocks and I can sing the song with 
you ; but I suppose that when you leap off into the 
air I shall have to sit there patting the rock with 
my paw and my tail and singing while you have 
the fun of it." 

" It may be," said an old Blackbird, " that we 
can fit you out so that you can fly with us." 

" Is it possible ! " cried the Coyote, " Then by 
all means do so. By the Blessed Immortals ! 
Now, if I am only able to circle off into the air 
like you fellows, I '11 be the biggest Coyote in the 
world ! " 

" I think it will be easy," resumed the old Black- 



How the Coyote Danced 239 

bird. " My children," said he, "you are many, and 
many are your wing-feathers. Contribute each one 
of you a feather to our friend." Thereupon the 
Blackbirds, each one of them, plucked a feather 
from his wing. Unfortunately they all plucked 
feathers from the wings on the same side. 

" Are you sure, my friend," continued the old 
Blackbird, " that you are willing to go through the 
operation of having these feathers planted in your 
skin ? If so, I think we can fit you out." 

"Willing? — why, of course I am willing." And 
the Coyote held up one of his arms, and, sitting 
down, steadied himself with his tail. Then the 
Blackbirds thrust in the feathers all alone the rear 
of his forelegs and down the sides of his back, 
where wings ought to be. It hurt, and the Coyote 
twitched his mustache considerably ; but he said 
nothing. When it was done, he asked : " Am I 
ready now ? " 

"Yes," said the Blackbirds ; " we think you '11 do." 

So they formed themselves again on the upper 
part of the slope, sang their songs, and hopped 
along down with many a flutter, fiurry, and scurry, 
— Keh keh, keh keh, keh keh^ — and away they flew 
off into the air. 

The Coyote, somewhat startled, got out of time, 
but followed bravely, making heavy flops ; but, as 
I have said before, the wings he was supplied with 
were composed of feathers all plucked from one 
side, and therefore he flew slanting and spirally 
and brought up with a whack, which nearly knocked 
the breath out of him, against the side of the 



240 Zuni Folk Tales 

mountain. He picked himself up, and shook him- 
self, and cried out : " Hold ! Hold ! Hold on, hold 
on, there ! " to the fast-disappearing Blackbirds. 
" You 've left me behind ! " 

When the birds returned they explained : " Your 
wings are not quite thick enough, friend ; and, be- 
sides, even a young Blackbird, when he is first 
learning to fly, does just this sort of thing that you 
have been doing — makes bad work of it." 

" Sit down again," said the old Blackbird. And 
he called out to the rest : " Get feathers from your 
other sides also, and be careful to select a few 
strong feathers from the tips of the wings, for by 
means of these we cleave the air, guide our move- 
ments, and sustain our flight." 

So the Blackbirds all did as they were bidden, 
and after the new feathers were planted, each one 
plucked out a tail-feather, and the most skilful of 
the Blackbirds inserted these feathers into the tip 
of the Coyote's tail. It made him wince and " yip " 
occasionally ; but he stood it bravely and reared 
his head proudly, thinking all the while : " What a 
splendid Coyote I shall be ! Did ever anyone 
hear of a Coyote flying?" 

The procession formed again. Down the slope 
they went, hopity-hop, hopity-hop, singing their 
song, and away they flew into the air, the Coyote 
in their midst. Far off and high they circled and 
circled, the Coyote cutting more eager pranks than 
any of the rest. Finally they returned, dipped 
themselves again into the spring, and settled on the 
slopes of the rocks. 



How the Coyote Danced 241 

" There, now," cried out the Coyote, with a flutter 
of his feathery tail, " I can fly as well as the rest of 
you." 

" Indeed, you do well ! " exclaimed the Blackbirds. 
" Shall we try it again ? " 

" Oh, yes ! Oh, yes ! I 'm a little winded," cried 
the Coyote, " but this is the best fun I ever had." 

The Blackbirds, however, were not satisfied with 
their companion. They found him less sedate than 
a dancer ought to be, and, moreover, his irregular 
cuttings-up in the air were not to their taste. So 
the old ones whispered to one another : " This fel- 
low is a fool, and we must pluck him when he gets 
into the air. We '11 fly so far this time that he will 
get a little tired out and cry to us for assistance." 

The procession formed, and hopity-hop, hopity- 
hop, down the mountain slope they went, and with 
many a flutter and flurry flew off into the air. The 
Coyote, unable to restrain himself, even took the 
lead. On and on and on they flew, the Blackbirds 
and the Coyote, and up and up and up, and they 
circled round and round, until the Coyote found 
himself missing a wing stroke occasionally and fall- 
ing out of line ; and he cried out : " Help ! help, 
friends, help ! " 

" All ri^ht ! " cried the Blackbirds. " Catch hold 
of his wings ; hold him up ! " cried the old ones. 
And the Blackbirds flew at him ; and every time 
they caught hold of him (the old fool all the time 
thinking they were helping) they plucked out a 
feather, until at last the feathers had become so 
thin that he began to fall, and he fell and fell and 



242 Zuni Folk Tales 

fell, — flop, flop, flop, he went through the air, — the 
few feathers left in his forelegs and sides and the 
tip of his tail just saving him from being utterly 
crushed as he fell with a thud to the ground. He 
lost his senses completely, and lay there as if dead 
for a long time. When he awoke, he shook his 
head sadly, and, with a crestfallen countenance and 
tail dragging between his legs, betook himself to 
his home over the mountains. 

The agony of that fall had been so great and the 
heat of his exertions so excessive, that the feathers 
left in his forelegs and tail-tip were all shrivelled up 
into little ugly black fringes of hair. His descend- 
ants were many. 

Therefore you will often meet coyotes to this 
day who have little black fringes along the rear of 
their forelegs, and the tips of their tails are often 
black. Thus it was in the days of the ancients. 

Thus shortens my story. 



HOW THE TURTLE OUT HUNTING 
DUPED THE COYOTE 

TN the times of the ancients, long, long ago, near 
^ the Highflowing River on the Zuiii Mountains, 
there lived an old Turtle. He went out hunting, 
one day, and by means of his ingenuity killed a 
large, fine deer. When he had thrown the deer to 
the ground, he had no means of skinning it. He 
sat down and reflected, scratching the lid of his eye 
with the nail of his hind foot. He concluded he 
would have to o-o huntino- for a flint-knife ; there- 
fore he set forth. He came after a while to a place 
where old buildings had stood. Then he began to 
hum an old magic song, such as, it is said, the 
ancients sung when they hunted for the flint of 
which to make knives. He sang in this way : 

" Apaisinan tse wash, 
Apatsinati tse tvash, 

Tscpa ! Tsepa ! " 

which may be translated, not perhaps correctly, 
but well enough : 

Fire-striking flint-stone, oh, make yourself known ! 
Fire-striking flint-stone, oh, make yourself known ! 
Magically ! iMagically ! 

As he was thus crawling about and singing, a 
Coyote running through the woods overheard him. 
He exclaimed: " Uh ! I wonder who is sinorinof 
and what he is saying. Ah, he is hunting for a 

24:^ 



244 Zuni Folk Tales 

flint-knife, is he ? — evidently somebody who has 
killed a deer ! " He turned back, and ran over to 
where the old Turtle was. As he neared him, he 
cried out : " Halloo, friend ! Did n't I hear you 
singing ? " 

"Yes," was the reply of the Turtle. 

" What were you singing ? " 

** Nothing in particular." 

" Yes, you were, too. What were you saying ? " 

" Nothing in particular, I tell you ; at least, 
nothing that concerns you." 

" Yes, you were saying something, and this is 
what you said." And so the Coyote, who could 
not sing the song, deliberately repeated the words 
he had heard. 

" Well, suppose I did say so ; what of that ? " 
said the Turtle. 

" Why, you were hunting for a flint-knife ; that 
is why you said what you did," replied the Coyote. 

"Well, what of that?" 

"What did you want the flint-knife for?" 

" Nothing in particular," replied the Turtle. 

" Yes, you did ; you wanted it for something. 
What was it ? " 

" Nothing in particular, I say," replied the 
Turtle. " At least, nothing that concerns you." 

" Yes, you did want it for something," said the 
Coyote, " and I know what it was, too." 

" Well, what ? " asked the Turtle, who was wax- 
ing rather angry. 

" You wanted it to skin a deer with ; that 's 
what you wanted it for. Where is the deer 



How the Turtle Duped the Coyote 245 

now, come ? You have killed a deer and I know 
it. Tell, where is it." 

" Well, it lies over yonder," replied the Turtle. 

" Where ? Come, let us go ; I '11 help you skin it." 

" I can get along very well without you," replied 
the Turtle. 

" What if I do help you a little ? I am very 
hungry this morning, and would like to lap up the 
blood." 

" Well, then, come along, torment ! " replied the 
Turtle. So, finding a knife, they proceeded to 
where the deer was lying. 

*' Let me hold him for you," cried the Coyote. 
Whereupon he jumped over the deer, spread out 
its hind legs, and placed a paw on each of them, 
holding the body open ; and thus they began to 
skin the deer. When they had finished this work, 
the Coyote turned to the Turtle and asked : " How 
much of him are you going to give me ? " 

" The usual parts that fall to anyone who comes 
along when the hunter is skinning a deer," re- 
plied the Turtle. 

" What parts ? " eagerly asked the Coyote. 

" Stomach and liver," replied the Turtle, briefly. 

" 1 won't take that," whined the Coyote. "I want 
you to give me half of the deer." 

" I '11 do no such thing," replied the Turtle. " I 
killed the deer ; you only helped to skin him, and 
you ought to be satisfied with my liberality in giv- 
ing you the stomach and liver alone. I '11 throw in 
a little fat, to be sure, and some of the intestines ; 
but I '11 give you no more." 



246 Zuni Folk Tales 

" Yes, you will, too," snarled the Coyote, show- 
ing his teeth. 

"Oh, will I?" replied the Turtle, deliberately, 
hauling in one or two of his flippers. 

" Yes, you will ; or I '11 simply murder you, that 's 

all." 

The Turtle immediately pulled his feet, head, and 
tail in, and cried : " I tell you, I '11 give you nothing 
but the stomach and liver and some of the intes- 
tines of this deer ! " 

" Well, then, I will forthwith kill you ! " snapped 
the Coyote, and he made a grab for the Turtle. 
Kopo ! sounded his teeth as they struck on the 
hard shell of the Turtle ; and, bite as he would, 
the Turtle simply slipped out of his mouth every 
time he grabbed him. He rolled the Turtle over 
and over to find a good place for biting, and held 
him between his paws as if he were a bone, and 
gnawed at him ; but, do his best, kopo, kopo ! his 
teeth kept slipping off the Turtle's hard shell. At 
last he exclaimed, rather hotly : " There 's more 
than one way of killing a beast like you ! " So he 
set the Turtle up on end, and, catching up a quan- 
tity of sand, stuffed it into the hole where the 
Turtle's head had disappeared and tapped it well 
down with a stick until he had completely filled the 
crevice. "There, now," he exclaimed, with a 
snicker of delight. " I think I have fixed you now, 
old Hardshell, and served you right, too, you old 
stingy-box ! " — whereupon he whisked away to the 
meat. 

The Turtle considered it best to die, as it were ; 



How the Turtle Duped the Coyote 247 

but he listened intently to what was goino; on. The 
Coyote cut up the deer and made a package of him 
in his own skin. Then he washed the stomach in 
a neighboring brook and filled it with choppings of 
the liver and kidneys, and fat stripped from the in- 
testines, and clots of blood, dashing in a few sprigs 
of herbs here and there. Then, according to the 
custom of hunters in all times, he dug an oven in 
the ground and buried the stomach, in order to 
make a baked blood-pudding of it while he was 
summoning his family and friends to help him take 
the meat home. 

The Turtle clawed a little of the sand away from 
his neck and peered out just a trifle. He heard 
the Coyote grunting as he tried to lift the meat in 
order to hang it on a branch of a neighboring pine 
tree. He was just exclaiming : " What a lucky 
fellow I am to come on that lame, helpless old 
wretch and get all this meat from him without the 
trouble of hunting for it, to be sure ! Ah, my 
dear children, my fine old wife, what a feast we 
will have this day ! " — for you know the Coyote 
had a large family over the way, — he was just 
exclaiming this, I say, when the Turtle cried out, 
faintly: ''Natipa!'' 

" You hard-coated old scoundrel ! You ugly, 
crooked-legged beast ! You stingy-box ! " snarled 
the Coyote. " So you are alive, are you ? " 
Dropping the meat, he leaped back to where the 
Turtle was lying, his head hauled in again, and, 
jamming every crevice full of sand, made it hard 
and firm. Then, hitting the Turtle a clip with the 



248 Zuni Folk Tales 

tip of his nose, he sent him rolling over and over 
like a flat, round stone down the slope. 

" This is fine treatment to receive from the 
hands of such a sneaking cur as that," thought the 
Turtle. " I think I will keep quiet this time and 
let him do as he pleases. But through my ingenu- 
ity I killed the deer, and it may be that through 
ingenuity I can keep the deer." 

So the Turtle kept perfectly dead, to all appear- 
ances, and the Coyote, leaving the meat hanging 
on a low branch of a tree and building a fire over 
the oven he had excavated, whisked away with his 
tail in the air to his house just the other side of the 
mountain. 

When he arrived there he cried out : " Wife, 
wife ! Children, children ! Come, quick ! Great 
news ! Killed an enormous deer today. I have 
made a blood-pudding in his stomach and buried 
it. Let us go and have a feast ; then you must 
help me bring the meat home." 

Those Coyotes were perfectly wild. The cubs, 
half-erown, with their tails more like sticks than 
brushes, trembled from the ends of their toe-nails 
to the tips of their stick-like tails ; and they all 
set ofi — the old ones ahead, the young ones follow- 
ing single file — as fast as they could toward the 
place where the blood-pudding was buried. 

Now, as soon as the old Turtle was satisfied that 
the Coyote had left, he dug the sand out of his 
collar with his tough claws, and, proceeding to the 
place where the meat hung, first hauled it up, piece 
by piece, to the very top of the tree ; for Turtles 



How the Turtle Duped the Coyote 249 

have claws, you know, and can climb, especially if 
the trunk of the tree leans over, as that one did. 
Having hauled the meat to the very topmost 
branches of the tree, and tied it there securely, he 
descended and went over to where the blood-pud- 
ding was buried. He raked the embers away from 
it and pulled it out ; then he dragged it off to a 
neighboring ant-hill where the red fire-ants were 
congregated in great numbers. Immediately they 
began to rush out, smelling the cooked meat, and 
the Turtle, untying the end of the stomach, chucked 
as many of the ants as he could into it. Then he 
dragged the pudding back to the fire and replaced 
it in the oven, taking care that the coals should not 
get near it. 

He had barely climbed the tree again and nestled 
himself on his bundle of meat, when along came 
those eager Coyotes. Everything stuck up all 
over them with anxiety for the feast — their hair, 
the tips of their ears, and the points of their tails ; 
and as they neared the place and smelt the blood 
and the cooked meat, they began to sing and dance 
as they came along, and this was what they sang : 

** Na-ti tsa, na-ti tsa ! 

Tui-ya si-si na-ti tsa ! 
Tui-ya si-si na-ti tsa ! 

Tui-ya si-si ! Tui-ya si-si !" 

We will have to translate this — which is so old 

that who can remember exactly what it means ? — 

thus : 

Meat of the deer, meat of the deer ! 
Luscious fruit-like meat of the deer ! 



250 Zuni Folk Tales 

Luscious fruit-like meat of the deer ! 

Luscious fruit-like ! Luscious fruit-like ! 

No sooner had they neared the spot where they 
smelt the meat than, without looking around at all, 
they made a bound for it. But the old Coyote 
grabbed the hindmost of the young ones by the ear 
until he yelped, shook him, and called out to all the 
rest : " Look you here ! Eat in a decent manner 
or you will burn your chops off ! I stuffed the pud- 
ding full of grease, and the moment you puncture 
it, the grease, being hot, will fly out and burn you. 
Be careful and dignified, children. There is plenty 
of time, and you shall be satisfied. Don't gorge 
at the first helping ! " 

But the moment the little Coyotes were freed, 
they made a grand bounce for the tempting stomach, 
tearing it open, and grabbing huge mouthfuls. It 
may be surmised that the fire-ants were not com- 
fortable. They ran all over the lips and cheeks of 
the voracious little gormands and bit them until they 
cried out, shaking their heads and rubbing them in 
the sand : " Atu-tu-tu-tu-hi-tii ! " 

" There, now, did n't I tell you, little fools, to be 
careful ? It was the grease that burnt you. Now 
I hope you know enough to eat a little more mod- 
erately. There 's plenty of time to satisfy your- 
selves, I say," cried the old Coyote, sitting down on 
his haunches. 

Then the little cubs and the old woman attacked 
the delicacy again. '' Atu-tu-tu-tu-tu-tu-tn ! '' they 
exclaimed, shaking their heads and flapping 
their ears ; and presently they all went away 



How the Turtle Duped the Coyote 251 

and sat down, observing this wonderful hot 
pudding.^ 

Then the Coyote looked around and observed 
that the meat was gone, and, following the grease 
and blood spots up the tree with his eye, saw in the 
top the pack of meat with the Turtle calmly reclin- 
ing upon it and resting, his head stretched far out 
on his hand. The Turtle lifted his head and ex- 
claimed : '^ Pe-sa-las-ta-i-i-i-i r' 

" You tough-hided old beast ! " yelled the Coyote, 
in an ecstasy of rage and disappointment. " Throw 
down some of that meat, now, will you ? I killed 
that deer ; you only helped me skin him ; and here 
you have stolen all the meat. Wife ! Children ! 
Didn't I kill the deer?" he cried, turning to the 
rest. 

" Certainly you did, and he 's a sneaking old 
wretch to steal it from you ! " they exclaimed in 
chorus, looking longingly at the pack of meat in 
the top of the tree. 

"Who said I stole the meat from you?" cried 
out the Turtle. " I only hauled it up here to keep 
it from being stolen, you villain ! Scatter your- 
selves out to catch some of it. I will throw as fine 
a pair of ribs down to you as ever you saw. There, 
now, spread yourselves out and get close together. 
Ready ? " he called, as the Coyotes lay down on 
their backs side by side and stretched their paws as 

' It may be well to explain here that there is no more intensely painful or 
fiery bite known than the bite of the fire-ant or red ant of the Southwest 
and the tropics, named, in Zuni, halo. Large pimples and blisters are 
raised by the bite, which is so venomous, moreover, that for the time being 
it poisons the blood and fills every vein of the body with burning sensations. 



252 Zuni Folk Tales 

high as they could eagerly and tremblingly toward 
the meat. 

" Yes, yes ! " cried the Coyotes, in one voice. 
" We are all ready ! Now, then ! " 

The old Turtle took up the pair of ribs, and, 
catching them in his beak, crawled out to the end 
of the branch immediately over the Coyotes, and, 
giving them a good fling, dropped them as hard as 
he could. Over and over they fell, and then came 
down like a pair of stones across the bodies of the 
Coyotes, crushing the wind out of them, so that 
they had no breath left with which to cry out, and 
most of them were instantly killed. But the two 
little cubs at either side escaped with only a hurt 
or two, and, after yelling fearfully, one of them 
took his tail between his legs and ran away. The 
other one, still very hungry, ran off with his tail 
lowered and his nose to the ground, sidewise, until 
he had got to a safe distance, and then he sat down 
and looked up. Presently he thought he would 
return and eat some of the meat from the ribs. 

" Wait ! " cried the old Turtle, " don't go near 
that meat ; leave it alone for your parents and 
brothers and sisters. Really, I am so old and stiff 
that it took me a long time to get out to the end of 
that limb, and I am afraid they went to sleep while 
I was getting there, for see how still they lie." 

" By my ancestors ! " exclaimed the Coyote, look- 
ing at them ; " that is so." 

" Why don't you come up here and have a feast 
with me," said the Turtle, " and leave that meat alone 
for your brothers and sisters and your old ones ? " 



How the Turtle Duped the Coyote 253 

*' How can I get up there ?" whined the Coyote, 
crawHng nearer to the tree. 

" Simply reach up until you get your paw over 
one of the branches, and then haul yourself up," 
replied the Turtle. 

The little Coyote stretched and jumped, and, 
though he sometimes succeeded in getting his paw 
over the branch, he fell back, flop! every time. And 
then he would yelp and sing out as though every 
bone in his body was broken. 

" Never mind ! never mind ! " cried the Turtle. 
" I '11 come down and help you." So he crawled 
down the tree, and, reaching over, grabbed the 
little Coyote by the topknot, and by much strug- 
gling he was able to climb up. When they got to 
the top of the tree the Turtle said : "There, now, 
help yourself." 

The little Coyote fell to and filled himself so full 
that he was as round as a plum and elastic as a 
cranberry. Then he looked about and licked his 
chops and tried to breathe, but could n't more than 
half, and said : " Oh, my ! if I don't get some water 
I'll choke!" 

"My friend," said the Turtle, "do you see that 
drop of water gleaming in the sun at the end of 
that branch of this pine tree ? " (It was really pitch.) 
" Now, I have lived in the tops of trees so much 
that I know where to go. Trees have springs. 
Look at that." 

The Coyote looked and was convinced. 

" Walk out, now, to the end of the branch, or 
until you come to one of those drops of water, then 



254 Zuni Folk Tales 

take it in your mouth and suck, and all the water 
you want will flow out." 

The little Coyote started. He trembled and was 
unsteady on his legs, but managed to get half way. 
" Is it here?" he called, turning round and looking 
back. 

" No, a little farther," said the Turtle. 

So he cautiously stepped a little farther. The 
branch was swaying dreadfully. He turned his 
head, and just as he was saying, " Is it here?" he 
lost his balance and fell plump to the ground, strik- 
ing so hard on the tough earth that he was instantly 
killed. 

" There, you wretched beast ! " said the old Tur- 
tle with a sigh of relief and satisfaction. " Ingenu- 
ity enabled me to kill a deer. Ingenuity enabled 
me to retain the deer." 

It must not be forgotten that one of the little 
Coyotes ran away. He had numerous descendants, 
and ever since that time they have been character- 
ized by pimples all over their faces where the 
mustaches grow out, and little blotches inside of 
their lips, such as you see inside the lips of dogs. 

Thus shortens my story. 



THE COYOTE AND THE LOCUST 

IN the days of the ancients, there Hved south of 
Zuh'i, beyond the headland of rocks, at a 
place called Suski-ashokton (" Rock Hollow of the 
Coyotes"), an old Coyote. And this side of the 
headland of rocks, in the bank of a steep arroyo, 
lived an old Locust, near where stood a pifion tree, 
crooked and so bereft of needles that it was sunny. 
One day the Coyote went out hunting, leaving 
his large family of children and his old wife at home. 
It was a fine day and the sun was shining brightly, 
and the old Locust crawled out of his home in the 
loam of the arroyo and ascended to one of the bare 
branches of the pinon tree, where, hooking his feet 
firmly into the bark, he began to sing and play his 
flute. The Coyote in his wanderings came along 
just as he began to sing these words : 

" Tc/iuma/i, tchumali, shohkoya, 
Tchumali, tchumali, shohkoya ! 

Yaatnii heeshoo taatani tchupatchinte^ 
Shohkoya, 
Shohkoya ! " 

Locust, locust, playing a flute. 
Locust, locust, playing a flute ! 

Away up above on the pine-tree bough, 
closely clinging. 

Playing a flute, 
Playing a flute ! 

" Delight of my senses ! " called out the Coyote, 

255 



256 Zuni Folk Tales 

squatting down on his haunches, and looking up, 
with his ears pricked and his mouth grinning ; " De- 
light of my senses, how finely you play your 
flute ! " 

" Do you think so ?" said the Locust, continuing 

his song. 

" Goodness, yes ! " cried the Coyote, shifting 
nearer. " What a song it is ! Pray, teach it to 
me, so that I can take it home and dance my chil- 
dren to it. I have a large family at home." 

" All right," said the Locust. " Listen, then." 
And he sang his song again : 

" Tchumali, tchumali, shohkoya, 
Tchumali, tchumali, shohkoya ! 

Yaatnii heeshoo taata?ii tchupatchinte, 
Shohkoya, 
Shohkoya ! " 

•' Delightful ! " cried the Coyote. " Now, shall I 
try?" 

"Yes, try." 

Then in a very hoarse voice the Coyote half 
growled and half sang (making a mistake here and 
there, to be sure) what the Locust had sung, though 
there was very little music in his repetition of the 
performance. 

" Tchu u-mali, tchumali — shohshoh koya, 
Tchu tchu mali, tchumali shohkoya, 

Yaa mami he he shoo ta ta tante tchup patchin te^ 
Shohkoya, 
Shohkoya ! " 

" Ha !" laughed he, as he finished ; " I have got 
it, have n't I ? " 



The Coyote and the Locust 257 

"Well, yes," said the Locust, "fairly well." 
" Now, then, let us sing it over together." 
And while the Locust piped shrilly the Coyote 
sang gruffly, though much better than at first, the 
song. 

"There, now," exclaimed he, with a whisk of his 
tail ; " did n't I tell you ? " and without waiting to say 
another word he whisked away toward his home 
beyond the headland of rocks. As he was running 
along the plain he kept repeating the song to him- 
self, so that he would not forget it, casting his eyes 
into the air, after the manner of men in trying to 
remember or to say particularly fine things, so that 
he did not notice an old Gopher peering at him 
somewhat ahead on the trail ; and the old Gopher 
laid a trap for him in his hole. 

The Coyote came trotting along, singing : ''SJioh- 
koya, skohkoya" when suddenly he tumbled heels 
over head into the Gopher's hole. He sneezed, 
began to cough, and to rub the sand out of his 
eyes ; and then jumping out, cursed the Gopher 
heartily, and tried to recall his song, but found that 
he had utterly forgotten it, so startled had he been. 
" The lubber-cheeked old Gopher ! I wish the 
pests were all in the Land of Demons ! " cried he. 
" They dig their holes, and nobody can go any- 
where in safety. And now I have forgotten my 
song. Well, I will run back and get the old Locust 
to sing it over again. If he can sit there singing 
to himself, why can 't he sing it to me ? No doubt 
in the world he is still out there on that pinon 
branch singing away." Saying which, he ran back 



258 Zuni Folk Tales 

as fast as he could. When he arrived at the pinon 
tree, sure enough, there was the old Locust still sit- 
ting and singing. 

"Now, how lucky this is, my friend ! " cried the 
Coyote, long before he had reached the place. 
" The lubber-cheeked, fat-sided old Gopher dug a 
hole right in my path ; and I went along singing 
your delightful song and was so busy with it that I 
fell headlong into the trap he had set for me, and 
I was so startled that, on my word, I forgot all about 
the song, and I have come back to ask you to sing 
it for me agfain." 

" Very well," said the Locust. " Be more careful 
this time." So he sang the song over. 

" Good ! Surely I '11 not forget it this time," 
cried the Coyote ; so he whisked about, and away 
he sped toward his home beyond the headland of 
rocks. " Goodness ! " said he to himself, as he 
went along ; " what a fine thing this will be for my 
children ! How they will be quieted by it when I 
dance them as I sing it ! Let 's see how it runs. 
Oh, yes ! 

** Tc/iumali, tchumali, shohkoya, 
Tchumali, tchu7nali, shohko — " 

Thli-i-i-i-i-p, piu-piu, piu-piu ! fluttered a flock of 
Pigeons out of the bushes at his very feet, with 
such a whizzing and whistling that the Coyote 
nearly tumbled over with fright, and, recovering 
himself, cursed the Doves heartily, calling them 
" gray-backed, useless sage-vermin " ; and, between 
his fright and his anger, was so much shaken up 
that he again forgot his song. 



The Coyote and the Locust 259 

Now, the Locust wisely concluded that this 
would be the case, and as he did not like the Coy- 
ote very well, having been told that sometimes 
members of his tribe were by no means friendly to 
Locusts and other insects, he concluded to play 
him a trick and teach him a lesson in the minding 
of his own affairs. So, catching tight hold of the 
bark, he swelled himself up and strained until his 
back split open ; then he skinned himself out of his 
old skin, and, crawling down the tree, found a suit- 
able quartz stone, which, being light-colored and 
clear, would not make his skin look unlike himself. 
He took the stone up the tree and carefully placed 
it in the empty skin. Then he cemented the back 
together with a little pitch and left his exact coun- 
terfeit sticking to the bark, after which he flew 
away to a neighboring tree. 

No sooner had the Coyote recovered his equa- 
nimity to some extent than, discovering the loss of 
his sons: and agrain exclaiming- " No doubt he is 
still there piping away ; I '11 go and get him to sing 
it over," — he ran back as fast as he could. 

" Ah wha ! " he exclaimed, as he neared the tree. 
*' I am quite fatigued with all this extra running 
about. But, no matter ; I see you are still there, 
my friend. A lot of miserable, gray-backed 
Ground-pigeons flew up right from under me as I 
was going along singing my song, and they startled 
me so that I forgot it ; but I tell you, I cursed 
them heartily ! Now, my friend, will you not be 
good enough to sing once more for me ? " 

He paused for a reply. None came. 



26o Zuni Folk Tales 

" Why, what 's the matter ? Don't you hear 
me ? " yelled the Coyote, running nearer, looking 
closely, and scrutinizing the Locust. " I say, I have 
lost my song, and want you to sing for me again. 
Will you, or will you not ? " Then he paused. 

" Look here, are you going to sing for me or 
not ? " continued the Coyote, getting angry. • 

No reply. 

The Coyote stretched out his nose, wrinkled up 
his lips, and snarled : " Look here, do you see my 
teeth ? Well, I '11 ask you just four times more to 
sing for me, and if you don't sing then, I '11 snap 
you up in a hurry, I tell you. Will — you — sing — 
for me ? Once. Will you sing — for me ? Twice. 
Two more times ! Look out ! Will you sing for 
me ? Are you a fool ? Do you see my teeth ? 
Only once more ! Will — you — sing — for me?" 

No reply. 

" Well, you are a fool ! " yelled the Coyote, unable 
to restrain himself longer, and making a quick 
jump, he snapped the Locust skin off of the bough, 
and bit it so hard that it crushed and broke the 
teeth in the middle of his jaw, driving some of 
them so far down in his gums that you could hardly 
see them, and crowding the others out so that they 
were regular tusks. The Coyote dropped the 
stone, rolled in the sand, and howled and snarled 
and wriggled with pain. Then he got up and shook 
his head, and ran away with his tail between his 
legs. So excessive was his pain that at the first 
brook he came to he stooped down to lap up water 
in order to alleviate it, and he there beheld what 



The Coyote and the Locust 261 

you and I see in the mouths of every Coyote we 
ever catch, — that the teeth back of the canines are 
all driven down, so that you can see only the points 
of them, and look very much broken up. 

In the days of the ancients the Coyote minded 
not his own business and restrained not his anger. 
So he bit a Locust that was only the skin of one 
with a stone inside. And all his descendants have 
inherited his broken teeth. And so also to this 
day, when Locusts venture out on a sunny morning 
to sing a song, it is not infrequently their custom 
to protect themselves from the consequences of 
attracting too much attention by skinning them- 
selves and leaving their counterparts on the trees. 

Thus shortens my story. 



THE COYOTE AND THE RAVENS WHO 
RACED THEIR EYES 

LONG, long ago, in the days of the ancients, 
there lived in Homaiakwin, or the Canon of 
the Cedars, a Coyote, — doubtless the same one I 
have told you of as having made friends with the 
Woodpounder bird. As you know, this canon in 
which he lived is below the high eastern cliff of 
Face Mountain. 

This Coyote was out walking one day. On 
leaving his house he had said that he was going 
hunting ; but, — miserable fellow ! — who ever knew 
a Coyote to catch anything, unless it were a prairie- 
dog or a wood-rat or a locust or something of the 
kind ? So you may depend upon it he was out 
walking ; that is, wandering around to see what he 
could see. 

He crossed over the valley northward, with his 
tail dragging along in an indifferent sort of a way, 
until he came to the place on Thunder Mountain 
called Shoton-pia (" Where the Shell Breastplate 
Hangs " ). He climbed up the foot-hills, and along 
the terraces at the base of the cliff, and thus hap- 
pened to get toward the southeastern corner of the 
mountain. There is a little column of rock with a 
round top to it standing there, as you know, to this 
day. 

Now, on the top of this standing rock sat two 
old Ravens, racing their eyes. One of them would 

262 



The Coyote and the Ravens 263 

settle himself down on the rock and point with his 
beak straight off across the valley to some pinnacle 
in the cliffs of the opposite mesa. Then he would 
say to his companion, without turning his head at 
all: "You see that rock yonder? Well, ahem! 
Standing rock yonder, round you, go ye my eyes 
and come back." Then he would lower his head, 
stiffen his neck, squeeze his eyelids, and " Pop I " 
he would say as his eyes flew out of their sockets, 
and sailed away toward the rock like two streaks of 
lightning, reaching which they would go round it, 
and come back toward the Raven ; and as they 
were coming back, he would swell up his throat 
and say " VVhzL-u-2c-u-ti-u-2i" — whereupon his eyes 
would slide with a k'otJdo / into their sockets 
again. Then he would turn toward his companion, 
and swelling up his throat still more, and ducking 
his head just as if he were trying to vomit his own 
neck, he would laugh inordinately ; and the other 
would laugh with him, bristling up all the feathers 
on his body. 

Then the other one would settle himself, and 
say : " Ah, I '11 better you ! You see that rock 
away yonder ? " Then he would begin to squeeze 
his eyelids, and tkliit ! his eyes would fly out of 
their sockets and away across the mesa and round 
the rock he had named ; and as they flew back, he 
would lower himself, and say ''Wkii-tc-ii-ti-ii-ii-ii" 
when k'othlo / the eyes would slide into their 
sockets again. Then, as much amused as ever, the 
Ravens would laueh at one another ao;ain. 

Now, the Coyote heard the Ravens humming 



264 Zuh'i Folk Tales 

their eyes back into their sockets ; and the sound 
they made, as well as the way they laughed so 
heartily, exceedingly pleased him, so that he stuck 
his tail up very straight and laughed merely from 
seeing them laugh. Presently he could contain him- 
self no longer. " Friends," he cried, in a shrieky 
little voice, " I say, friends, how do you do, and 
what are you doing ? " 

The Ravens looked down, and when they saw 
the Coyote they laughed and punched one another 
with their wings and cried out to him : " Bless you ! 
Glad to see you come ! " 

" What is it you are doing ? " asked he. " By the 
daylight of the gods, it is funny, whatever it is ! " 
And he whisked his tail and laughed, as he said 
this, drawing nearer to the Ravens. 

" Why, we are racing our eyes," said the older of 
the two Ravens. " Did n't you ever see anyone 
race his eyes before ? " 

" Good demons, no ! " exclaimed the Coyote. 
" Race your eyes ! How in the world do you race 
your eyes ? " 

" Why, this way," said one of the Ravens. And 
he settled himself down. " Do you see that tall 
rock yonder ? Ahem ! Well, tall rock, yonder, — 
ye my eyes go round it and return to me ! " 
Kothlo / k'oihlo ! the eyes slipped out of their 
sockets, and the Raven, holding his head perfectly 
still, waited, with his upper lids hanging wrinkled 
on his lower, for the return of the eyes ; and as 
they neared him, he crouched down, swelled up his 
neck, and exclaimed " Whu-u-u-u-u-u-uy Tsoko ! 



The Coyote and the Ravens 265 

the eyes flew into their sockets again. Then the 
Raven turned around and showed his two black 
bright eyes as good as ever. " There, now ! what 
did I tell you ? " 

" By the moon ! " squeaked the Coyote, and 
came up nearer still. " How in the world do you 
do that? It is one of the most wonderful and 
funny things I ever saw ! " 

" Well, here, come up close to me," said the Raven, 
"and I will show you how it is done." Then the 
other Raven settled himself down ; and pop ! 
went his eyes out of their sockets, round a rock 
still farther away. And as they returned, he ex- 
claimed " JVAu-u-u-u-2i-u-2i," when tsoko ! in again 
they came.^ And he turned around laughing at the 
Coyote. " There, now ! " said he, " did n't I tell 
you?" 

" By the daylight of the gods ! I wish I 
could do that," said the Coyote. " Suppose I try 
my eyes ? " 

"Why, yes, if you like, to be sure!" said the 
Ravens. "Well, now, do you want to try?" 

" Humph ! I should say I did," replied the 
Coyote. 

" Well, then, settle down right here on this rock," 
said the Ravens, making way for him, " and hold 
your head out toward that rock and say : ' Yonder 
rock, these my eyes go round it and return to me. 

" I know ! I know ! I know !" yelled the Coyote. 
And he settled himself down, and squeezed and 
groaned to force his eyes out of his sockets, but 
they would not go. "Goodness!" said the 



266 Zuni Folk Tales 

Coyote, " how can I get my eyes to go out of 
their sockets ?" 

" Why, don't you know how ?" said the Ravens. 
" Well, just keep still, and we '11 help you ; we '11 
take them out for you." 

" All right ! all right ! " cried the Coyote, unable 
to repress his impatience. " Quick ! quick ! here I 
am, all ready ! " And crouching down, he laid his 
tail straight out, swelled up his neck, and strained 
with every muscle to force his eyes out of his head. 
The Ravens picked them out with a dexterous 
twist of their beaks in no time, and sent them fly- 
ing off over the valley. The Coyote yelped a little 
when they came out, but stood his ground man- 
fully, and cringed down his neck and waited for 
his eyes to come back. 

" Let the fool of a beast go without his eyes," 
said the Ravens. "He was so very anxious to get 
rid of them, and do something he had no business 
with ; let him go without them ! " Whereupon they 
flew off across the valley, and caught up his eyes 
and ate them, and flew on, laughing at the predica- 
ment in which they had left the Coyote. 

Now, thus the Coyote sat there the proper length 
of time ; then he opened his mouth, and said 
" Whu-ii-u-iL-u-iL-u ! " But he waited in vain for his 
eyes to come back. And " W Jiii-iL-u-u-u-u-ti-it-u ! " 
he said again. No use. " Mercy !" exclaimed he, 
" what can have become of my eyes ? Why don't 
they come back ? " After he had waited and " whu- 
M-u-u-u-d'" until he was tired, he concluded that his 
eyes had got lost, and laid his head on his breast, 



The Coyote and the Ravens 267 

wofully thinking of his misfortune. " How in the 
world shall I hunt up my eyes ? " he groaned, as he 
lifted himself cautiously (for it must be remembered 
that he stood on a narrow rock), and tried to look 
all around ; but he could n't see. Then he began to 
feel with his paws, one after another, to find the 
way down ; and he slipped and fell, so that nearly 
all the breath was knocked out of his body. When 
he had recovered, he picked himself up, and felt 
and felt along, slowly descending, until he got into 
the valley. 

Now, it happened as he felt his way along with 
his toes that he came to a wet place in the valley, 
not far below where the spring of Shuntakaiya 
flows out from the cliffs above. In feeling his way, 
his foot happened to strike a yellow cranberry, ripe 
and soft, but very cold, of course. " Ha !" said he, 
" lucky fellow, I ! Here is one of my eyes." So he 
picked it up and clapped it into one of his empty 
sockets ; then he peered up to the sky, and the 
light struck through it. " Did n't I tell you so, old 
fellow ? It is one of your eyes, by the souls of your 
ancestors!" Then he felt around until he found 
another cranberry. "Ha!" said he, "and this 
proves it! Here is the other!" And he clapped 
that into the other empty socket. He didn't seem 
to see quite as well as he had seen before, but still 
the cranberries answered the purpose of eyes ex- 
ceedingly well, and the poor wretch of a Coyote 
never knew the difference ; only it was observed 
when he returned to his companions in the Canon 
of the Cedars that he had yellow eyes instead of 



268 Zuni Folk Tales 

black ones, which everybody knows Coyotes and 
all other creatures had at first. 

Thus it was in the days of the ancients, and 
hence to this day coyotes have yellow eyes, and 
are not always quick to see things. 

Thus shortens my story. 



THE P R A I R I E-D OGS AND THEIR 
PRIEST, THE BURROWING-OWL 



ONCE, long, long ago, there stood in Prairie-dog 
Land a large Prairie-dog village. Prairie- 
dog Land is south of Zuni, beyond Grease Moun- 
tain ; and in the middle of that country, which is 
one of our smaller meadows, stands a mountain, 
which is a little mound. All round about the base 
of this mountain were the sky-holes and door- 
mounds and pathways of the grandfathers of the 
Prairie-dogs. In the very top of the mount was the 
house of an old Burrowing-owl and his wife. 

One summer it rained and it rained and it rained, 
so that the fine fields of mitdliko (wild portulaca) 
were kept constantly fresh, and the Prairie-dogs 
had unfailing supplies of this, their favorite food. 
They became fat and happy, and gloried in the 
rain-storms that had produced such an abundant 
harvest for them. But still it kept raining, until 
by-and-by, when they descended to their fields of 
mitdliko, they found their feet were wet, which they 
did not like any more than Prairie-dogs like it 
today. 

Now, you know that in some parts of the meadow 
of Prairie-dog Land are little hollows, in which the 
water collects when it rains hard. Just in these 
places were the fields of mitdliko. And still it 
rained and rained, until finally only the tops of the 
plants appeared above the waters. 

269 



2 70 Zuni Folk Tales 

Then the Prairie-dogs began to curse the rain 
and to fall off in flesh, for they could no longer go 
to the fields to collect food, and the stores in their 
granaries were running low. At last they grew 
very hungry and lean and could hardly get about, 
for it rained and rained day after day, so that they 
dare not go away from their holes, and their stores 
were all gone. 

The old ones among the Prairie-dogs, the grand- 
fathers, called a great council ; three or four of 
them came out of their houses, stood up on the 
mounds in front of their sky-holes, and called out 
''Wek wek, — wek wek, — wek wek, — wek wek ! '' in 
shrill, squeaky voices, so that the women and chil- 
dren in the holes round about exclaimed : " Good- 
ness, eracious ! the old ones are callino- a council !" 
And everybody trooped to the council, which was 
gathered round the base of the Burrowing-owl's 
mountain. 

" Now," said the chief spokesman or counsellor, 
" you see those wretched rainers keep dropping 
water until our fields of mitdliko are flooded. 
They ought to know that we are short of leg. and 
that we can't go into the lakes to gather food, and 
here we are starving. Our women are dying, our 
children are crying, and we can scarcely go from 
door to door. Now, what is to be done ? How 
can we stop the rain ? — that is the question." 

They talked and talked ; they devised many 
plans, which were considered futile, most of them 
having been tried already. At last a wise old gray- 
cheeked fellow suggested that it would be well to 



The Prairie-dosfs and their Priest 271 



'i=> 



apply to their grandfather, the Burrowing-owl, who 
hved in the top of the mountain. 

" Hear ! hear ! " cried the council in one voice, — 
whereupon the old man who had spoken was 
chosen as messenger to the Burrowing-owl 

He climbed to the top of the mountain, with 
many a rest, and at last got near the doorway, and 
sitting down at a respectful distance, raised himself 
on his haunches, folded his hands across his breast, 
then cried out : " PVek wek, — wek wek ! " 

The old grandfather Burrowing-owl, not in very 
good humor, stepped out, blinking his eyes and 
asked what was the matter. He said : " It is n't 
your custom to come up to my house and make 
such a racket, though true enough it is that I hear 
your rackets down below. It cannot be for noth- 
ing that you come ; therefore, what is your 
message ? " 

"My grandfather," said the Prairie-dog, "in 
council we have considered how to stop the ir- 
repressible rainers ; but all of our efforts and de- 
vices are quite futile, so that we are forced to 
apply to you." 

" Ah, indeed," said the old Owl, scratching the 
corner of his eye with his claw. " Go down home, 
and I will see what I can do tomorrow morning. 
As you all know very well, I am a priest. I will 
set aside four days for fasting and meditation and 
sacred labors. Please await the result." 

The old Prairie-dog humbly bade him farewell 
and departed for his village below. 

Next morning the Burrowing-owl said to his 



2/2 Zuni Folk Tales 

wife : " Put on a large quantity of beans, my old 
one, and cook them well, — small beans, of the kind 
that smell not pleasantly." He then bade her 
" Good morning," and left. He went about for a 
long time, hunting at the roots of bushes. At last 
he found one of those ill-smelling Beetles, with its 
head stuck way down in the midst of the roots. 
He grabbed him up, notwithstanding the poor 
creature's remonstrances, and took him home. 

When he arrived there, said he: "My friend, it 
seems to me you are making a great fuss about 
this thing, but I am not going to hurt you, except 
in one way, — by the presentation to you of all the 
food you can eat." 

"Bless me!" said the Tip-beetle, bobbing his 
head down into the ground and rearing himself 
into the air. Then he sat down quite relieved and 
contented, 

" Old woman," said the Burrowing-owl, " lay out 
a dish of the beans on the floor." The wife com- 
plied. " My friend," said the Burrowing-owl to the 
Tip-beetle, " fall to and satisfy yourself." 

The Tip-beetle, with another tip, sat down be- 
fore the bowl of beans. He ate, and swallowed, 
and gulped until he had entirely emptied the dish, 
and began to grow rather full of girth. 

"Not yet satisfied?" asked the Owl. "Old 
woman, lay out another bowl." 

Another large bowl of the bean soup was placed 
before the Tip-beetle, who likewise gulped and 
gulped at this, and at last diminished it to nothing. 
Now, the Tip-beetle by this time looked like a 



The Prairie-dogs and their Priest 273 

well-blown-up paunch. Still, when the old Owl 
remarked "Is there left of your capacity?" he re- 
plied : " Somewhat ; by the favor of a little more, 
I think I shall be satisfied." 

" Old woman," said the Owl, " a little more." 

The old woman placed another bowl before the 
Tip-beetle ; and he ate and ate, and swallowed and 
swallowed, and gulped and sputtered ; but with all 
the standing up and wiggling of his head that he 
could do he could not finish the bowl ; and at last, 
wiping the perspiration from his brow, he ex- 
claimed : " Thanks, thanks, I am satisfied." 

"Ha, indeed!" said the Owl. Both the old 
woman and the Tip-beetle had noticed, while the 
feast was going on, that the Owl had cut out a 
good-sized round piece of buckskin, and he was 
running a thread round about the edge of it, leav- 
ing two strings at either side, like the strings with 
which one draws together a pouch. Just as the 
Tip-beetle returned his thanks the old Owl had 
finished his work. 

" My friend," said he, turning to the Tip-beetle, 
"you have feasted to satisfaction, and it appears to 
me by your motions that you are exceedingly uncom- 
fortable, being larger of girth than is safe and well 
for a Tip-beetle. Perhaps you are not aware that one 
who eats freely of bean soup is likely to grow still 
larger. I would advise you, therefore, when I lay 
this pouch on the floor, with the mouth of it toward 
you, to run your head into it and exhale as much 
wind as possible ; and to facilitate this I will squeeze 
you slightly." 



2 74 Zuni Folk Tales 

The Tip-beetle was not very well pleased with 
the proposition ; still he by no means refused to 
comply. 

" You see," continued the Owl, " you are at once 
to be relieved of the serious consequences of your 
gluttony, while at the same time paying for your 
food." 

" Now, this is an excellent idea, upon my word," 
replied the Tip-beetle, and forthwith he thrust him- 
self into the bag. The old Owl embraced the Tip- 
beetle and gently squeezed him, increasing the 
pressure as time went on, until a large amount of 
his eirth had been diminished ; but behold ! the 
girth of the bag was swelled until it was so full with 
struggling wind that it could hardly be tied up ! 
Outside, the rain was rattling, rattling. 

Said the old Owl to the Tip-beetle : " My friend, 
if you do not mind the rain, which I dare say you 
do not, you may now return to your home. Many 
thanks for your assistance." 

The Tip-beetle, likewise with expression of 
thanks, took his departure. 

When the morning of the fourth day came, and 
the rain still continued, in fact increased, the old 
Owl took the bag of wind out to the mount before 
his doorway. 

Now, you know that if one goes near a Tip-beetle 
and disturbs him, that Tip-beetle will rear himself on 
his hands and head and disgorge breath of so pung- 
ent a nature that nobody can withstand it. Woe to 
the nose of that man who is in the neighborhood ! 
It will be so seared with this over-powering odor 



The Prairie-dogs and their Priest 275 

that it cannot sneeze, though desiring- never so 
much to do so. You know, also, if you touch a Tip- 
beetle who is angry, all the good water in Zuni River 
will not remove from your fingers the memory of 
that Beetle, whenever you chance to smell of them. 
And you know, also, how small stewed beans with 
thick skins affect one. Conceive, then, the power 
of the medicine contained in that little bag. 

The old Owl, taking up a stick, hit the bag one 
whack. The clouds, before so thick, elarine with 
lightnmg, trembling and swirling with thunder, now 
began to thin out in the zenith and depart, and the 
sunlight sifted through. The Owl hit the bag an- 
other stroke,— behold, afar off scudded the clouds 
as before a fierce blast. Again the old Owl hit the 
bag. The clouds were resting on the far away 
mountain-tops before he had lowered his stick. 
Then, with one mighty effort, he gave the bag a 
final whack, wholly emptying it of its contents, and 
the sky was as clear as it is on a summer's day in 
the noon-time of a drought. So potent was this 
all-penetrating and irresistible odor, that even the 
Rain-gods themselves could not withstand it, and 
withdrew their forces and retired before it. 

Out from their holes trooped the Prairie-dogs, 
and sitting up on their haunches all round about 
the mountain, they shouted at the tops of their 
shrill voices, ''JVek wek, — zuek wek, — zuek wek / " 
in praise of their great priest, the Grandfather Bur- 
rowinof-owl. 

Behold, thus it was in the days of the ancients. 



276 Zuni Folk Tales 

And for that reason prairie-dogs and burrowing- 
owls have always been great friends. And the 
burrowing-owls consider no place in the world 
quite so appropriate for the bringing forth, hatch- 
ing, and rearing of their children as the holes of 
the prairie-dogs. 

Thus shortens my story. 



HOW THE GOPHER RACED WITH THE 
RUNNERS OF K'IAKIME 

THERE was a time in the days of the ancients 
when the runners of K'iakime were famed 
above those of all other cities in the Valley of Shi- 
wina for their strength, endurance, and swiftness of 
foot. In running the tikwa, or kicked-stick race, 
they overcame, one after another, the runners of 
Shiwina or Zufii, of Matsaki or the Salt City, of 
Pinawa or the Town of the Winds, and in fact all 
who dared to challenge them or to accept their 
challenges. 

The people of Shiwina and Matsaki did not give 
up easily. They ran again and again, only to be 
beaten and to lose the vast piles of goods and pre- 
cious things which they had staked or bet ; and at 
last they were wholly disheartened and bereft of 
everything which without shame a man might ex- 
hibit for bettino-. 

So the people of the two towns called a coun- 
cil, and the old men and runners gathered 
and discussed what could be done that the 
runners of K'iakime might be overcome. They 
thought of all the wise men and wise beings they 
knew of ; one after another of them was mentioned, 
and at last a few prevailed in contending that for 
both wisdom and cunning or craft the Gopher took 
precedence over all those who had been mentioned. 
Forthwith a young man was dispatched to find an 

277 



278 Zuni Folk Tales 

old Gopher who lived on the side of the hill near 
which the race-course began. 

He was out sunning himself, and finishing a 
cellar, when the young man approached him, and he 
called out : " Ha, grandson ! Don't bother me this 
morning ; I am busy digging my cellars." 

The young man insisted that he came with an 
important message from his people. So the old 
Gopher ceased his work, and listened attentively 
while the young man related to him the difficulties 
they were in. 

Said he : " Go back, my grandson, and tell your 
people to challenge the runners of K'iakime to run 
the race of the kicked stick with a runner whom 
they have chosen, a single one, the fourth day from 
this day ; and tell your people, moreover, that I will 
run the race for them, providing only that the run- 
ners of K'iakime will permit me to go my own 
way, on my own road, which as you know runs 
underground." 

The youth thanked the old Gopher and was 
about to retire when the fat-sided, heavy-cheeked 
old fellow called to him to hold on a little. " Mind 
you," said he. " Tell your people also that they 
shall bet for me only two things — red paint and 
sacred yellow pollen. These shall, as it were, be 
the payment for my exertions, if I win, as I prize 
this sort of possession above all else." 

The young man returned and reported what the 
Gopher had said. Thereupon the people of Shi- 
wina and Matsaki sent a challenge to the people of 
K'iakime for a race, saying : " We bet all that we 



How the Gopher Raced 279 

have against what you have won from us from time 
to time that our runner, the Gopher, who hves beside 
the beginning of our race-course, will beat you in 
the race, which we propose shall be the fourth day 
from this day. The only condition we name is, 
that the Gopher shall be permitted to run in his 
own way, on his own road, which is underground." 

Rieht orlad were the runners of K'iakime to run 
against anyone proposed by those whom they had 
so often beaten. They hesitated not a moment in 
replying that they would run against the Gopher or 
any other friend of the people of Matsaki and Shi- 
wina, stipulating only that the Gopher, if he ran 
underground, should appear at the surface occa- 
sionally, that they might know where he was. So 
it was arranged, and the acceptance of the chal- 
lenge was reported to the Gopher, and the stipu- 
lation also which was named by the runners of 
K'iakime. 

That night the old Gopher went to his younger 
brother, old like himself, heavy-cheeked, gray-and- 
brown-coated, and dusty with diggings of his cel- 
lars. " My younger brother," said the old Gopher, 
" the fourth day from this day I am to run a race. 
I shall start at the beginning of the race-course of 
the people of K'iakime over here, which is near my 
home, as you know. There I shall dig two holes ; 
one at the beeinninof of the race-course, the other 
a little farther on. Now, here at your home, near 
the Place of the Scratching Bushes, do you dig a 
hole, down below where the race-course passes 
your place, off to one side of it, and another hole a 



28o Zuni Folk Tales 

little beyond the first. The means by which I shall 
be distinguished as a racer will be a red plume tied 
to my head. Do you also procure a red plume and 
tie it to your head. When you hear the thundering 
of the feet of the racers, run out and show yourself 
for a minute, and rush into the other hole as fast 
as you can." 

" I understand what you would have of me, and 
right gladly will I do it. It would please me ex- 
ceedingly to take down the pride of those haughty 
runners of K'iakime, or at least to help in doing 
it," replied the younger brother. 

The old Gopher went on to the Sitting Space 
of the Red Shell, where dwelt another of his 
younger brothers precisely like himself and the one 
he had already spoken to, near whose home the 
race-course also ran. To him he communicated the 
same information, and gave the same directions. 
Then he went on still farther to the place called 
K opak'yan, where dwelt another of his younger 
brothers. To him also he gave the same direc- 
tions ; and to still another younger brother, who 
dwelt beneath the base of the two broad pillars of 
Thunder Mountain, at the last turning-point of the 
race-course ; and to another brother, who dwelt at 
the Place of the Burnt Log ; and lastly to another 
brother quite as cunning and inventive as himself, 
who dwelt just below K'iakime where the race- 
course turned toward its end. When all these ar- 
rangements had been made, the old Gopher went 
back and settled himself comfortably in his 
nest. 



How the Gopher Raced 281 

Bright and early on the fourth day preparations 
were made for the race. The runners of K'iakime 
had been fasting and training in the sacred houses, 
and they came forth stripped and begirt for the 
racing, carr>'ing their stick. Then came the peo- 
ple of Matsaki and Shiwina, who gathered on the 
plain, and there they waited. But they waited not 
long, for soon the old Gopher appeared close in 
their midst, popping out of the ground, and on his 
head was a little red plume. He placed the stick 
which had been prepared for him, on the ground, 
where he could grab it with his teeth easily, saying : 
" Of course, you will excuse me if I do not kick my 
stick, since my feet are so short that I could not do 
so. On the other hand," he said to the runners, 
" you do not have to dig your way as I do. There- 
fore, we are evenly matched." 

The runners of K'iakime, contemptuously laugh- 
ing, asked him why he did not ask for some privi- 
lege instead of talking about things which meant 
nothing to them. 

At last the word was given. With a yell and a 
spring, off dashed the racers of K'iakime, gaily 
kicking their stick before them. Grabbing his 
stick in his teeth, into the ground plunged the old 
Gopher. Fearful lest their runner should be 
beaten, the people of Shiwina and Matsaki ran to a 
neighboring hill, watching breathlessly for him to 
appear somewhere in the course of the race above 
the plain. Away over the plain in a cloud of dust 
swept the runners of K'iakime. They were already 
far off, when suddenly, some distance before them. 



282 Zuni Folk Tales 

out of the ground in the midst of the race-course, 
popped the old Gopher, to all appearance, the 
red plume dusty, but waving proudly on his fore- 
head. After looking round at the runners, into 
the ground he plunged again. The people of Shi- 
wina and Matsaki yelled their applause. The run- 
ners of K'iakime, astounded that the Gopher should 
be ahead of them, redoubled their efforts. When 
they came near the Place of the Red Shell, be- 
hold ! somewhat muddy round the eyes and nose, 
out popped the old Gopher again, to all appear- 
ance. Of course it was his brother, the red plume 
somewhat heavy with dirt, but still waving on his 
forehead. 

On rushed the runners, and they had no sooner 
neared Kopak'yan than again they saw the Gopher 
in advance of them, now apparently covered with 
sweat, — for this cunning brother had provided him- 
self with a little water which he rubbed over his fur 
and made it all muddy, as though he were perspir- 
ing and had already begun to grow tired. He came 
out of his hole and popped into the other less 
quickly than the others had done ; and the runners, 
who were not far behind him, raised a great shout 
and pushed ahead. When they thought they had 
gained on him, behold ! in their pathway, all bedrag- 
gled with mud, apparently the same old Gopher 
appeared, moving with some difficulty, and then 
disappeared under the ground again. And so on, 
the runners kept seeing the Gopher at intervals, 
each time a little worse off than before, until they 
came to the last turning-place; and just as they 



How the Gopher Raced 283 

reached it, almost in their midst appeared the most 
bedraggled and worn out of all the Gophers. 
They, seeing the red plume on his crest, almost ob- 
scured by mud and all flattened out, regarded him 
as surely the same old Gopher. 

Finally, the original old Gopher, who had been 
quietly sleeping meanwhile, roused himself, and be- 
soaking himself from the tip of his nose to the end 
of his short tail, wallowed about in the dirt until he 
was well plastered with mud, half closing his eyes, 
and crawled out before the astonished multitude at 
the end of the goal, a sorry-looking object indeed, 
far ahead of the runners, who were rapidly ap- 
proaching. A great shout was raised by those 
who were present, and the runners of K'iakime for 
the first time lost all of their winnings, and had the 
swiftness, or at least all their confidence, taken out 
of them, as doth the wind lose its swiftness when 
its leo;s are broken. 

Thus it was in the days of the ancients. By the 
skill and cunning of the Gopher — who, by digging 
his many holes and pitfalls, is the opponent of all 
runners, great and small — was the race won against 
the swiftest runners among the youth of our an- 
cients. Therefore, to this day the young runners 
of Zuni, on going forth to prepare for a race, take 
with them the sacred yellow pollen and red paint ; 
and they make for the gophers, round about the 
race-course in the country, beautiful little plumes, 
and they speak to them speeches in prayer, saying : 
" Behold, O ye Gophers of the plains and the 



284 Zuni Folk Tales 

trails, we race ! And that we may have thy aid, 
we give ye these things, which are unto ye and 
your kind most precious, that ye will cause to fall 
into your holes and crannies and be hidden away in 
the dark and the dirt the sticks that are kicked by 
our opponents." 

Thus shortens my story. 



HOW THE RATTLESNAKES CAME TO 
BE WHAT THEY ARE 

KNOW you that long, long ago there lived at 
Yathlpew'nan, as live there now, many Rat- 
tlesnakes ; but then they were men and women, only 
of a Rattlesnake kind. 

One day the little children of one of the houses 
there wished to go out to play at sliding down the 
sand-banks south of the Bitter Pond on the other 
side of our river. So they cried out to their 
parents : " Let us go, O mother, grandmother, 
father ! and take our little sister to play on the 
sunny side of the sand-banks." 

" My children," said the mother, " go if you wish, 
but be very careful of your little sister ; for she is 
young. Carry her gently on your shoulders, and 
place her where she will be safe, for she is very 
small and helpless." 

"Oh, yes!" cried the children. ''We love our 
little sister, don't we, little one?" said they, turn- 
ing to the baby girl. Then they took her up in 
their mantles, and carried her on their shoulders 
out to the sunny side of the sand-banks ; and there 
they began to play at sliding one after another. 

The little girl, immensely delighted with their 
sport, toddled out from the place where they had 
set her down, just as one of the girls was speeding 
down the side of the sand-hill. The little creature 
ran, clapping her hands and laughing, to catch her 

285 



286 Zuni Folk Tales 

sister as she came ; and the elder one, trying in vain 
to stop herself, called out to her to beware ; but she 
was a little thing, and knew not the meaning of her 
sister's warning ; and, alas ! the elder one slid down 
upon her, knocked her over and rolled her in the 
sand, crushing her so that she died, and rolling her 
out very small. 

The children all gathered around their little sis- 
ter, and cried and cried. Finally they took her up 
tenderly, and, placing her on their shoulders, sang 
as they went slowly toward home : 

Tchi-tola tsaaana ! 
Tchi-tola tsaaana ! 
TcJii-tola tsaaana ! 

Ama ma hama seta ! 
A ma ma hama seta ! " 

Rattlesnake little-little ! 
Rattlesnake little-little ! 
Rattlesnake little-little ! 

Alas, we bear her ! 

Alas, we bear her ! 

As they approached the village of the Rattle- 
snakes, the mother of the little one looked out and 
saw them cominof and heard their soncr. 

" O, my children ! my children ! " she cried. 
" Ye foolish little ones, did I not tell ye to be- 
ware and to be careful, O, my children ? " Then 
she exclaimed — rocking herself to and fro, and wrig- 
gling from side to side at the same time, casting 
her hands into the air, and sobbing wildly — 



The Rattlesnakes 287 

" Ayaa mash ioki ! 
Ayaa mash toki ! 
Hai ! i i i //" ' 

and fell in a swoon, still wriggling, to the ground. 

When the old grandmother saw them coming, 
she too said : 

" Ayaa mash toki I 

Ayaa mash toki ! 

Hai! iiii!" 

And as one after another in that village saw the 
little child, so beloved, brought home thus mutilated 
and dead, each cried out as the others had cried : 

" Ayaa mash toki ! 

Ayaa tnash toki ! 

Hai! ii i i!" 

and all swooned away ; and the children also who 
were bringing the little one joined in the cry of 
woe, and swooned away. And when they all re- 
turned to life, behold, they could not arise, but 
went wriggling along the ground, faintly crying, as 
Rattlesnakes wriggle and cry to this day. 

So you see that once — as was the case with 
many, if not all, of the animals — the Rattlesnakes 
were a people, and a splendid people too. There- 
fore we kill them not needlessly, nor waste the 
lives even of other animals without cause. 

Thus shortens my story. 

• It is impossible to translate this exclamation, as it is probably archaic, 
and it is certainly the intention that its meaning shall not be plain. Judg- 
ing from its etymology, I should think that its meaning might be : 

" Oh, alas ! our little maiden ! 
Oh, alas ! our little maiden ! 
Ala-a-a-a-a-b ! " 



HOW THE CORN-PESTS WERE 
ENSNARED 

IN the days of the ancients, long, long ago, there 
lived in our town, which was then called the 
Middle Ant Hill of the World, a proud maiden, 
very pretty and very attractive, the daughter of 
one of the richest men among our people. She 
had every possession a Zuni maiden could wish for, 
— blankets and mantles, embroidered dresses and 
sashes, buckskins and moccasins, turquoise earrings 
and shell necklaces, bracelets so many you could 
not count them. She had her father and mother, 
brothers and sisters, all of whom she loved very much. 
Why, therefore, should she care for anything else ? 
There was only one thing to trouble her. Be- 
hold ! it came of much possession, for she had 
large corn-fields, so large and so many that those 
who planted and worked them for her could not 
look after them properly, and no sooner had the 
corn ears become full and sweet with the milk of 
their being than all sorts of animals broke into 
those fields and pulled down the corn-stalks and ate 
up the sweet ears of corn. Now, how to remove 
this difficulty the poor girl did not know. 

Yes, now that I think of it, there was another 
thing that troubled her very much, fully as much 
as did the corn-pests, — pests of another kind, how- 
ever, for there was n't an unmarried young man in 
all the valley of our ancients who was not running 

288 



The Corn-Pests 289 

mad over the charms of this girl. Besides all that, 
not a few of them had an eye on so many posses- 
sions, and thought her home would n't be an un- 
comfortable place to live in. So they never gave 
the poor girl any peace, but hung round her house, 
and came to visit her father so constantly that at 
last she determined to put the two pests together 
and call them one, and thereby get rid, if possible, 
of one or the other. So, when these vouno; men 
were very importunate, she would say to them, 
" Look you ! if any one of you will go to my corn- 
fields, and destroy or scare away, so that they will 
never come back again, the pests that eat up my 
corn, him I will marry and cherish, for I shall re- 
spect his ability and ingenuity." 

The young men tried and tried, but it was of no 
use. Before long, everybody knew of this singular 
proposition. 

There was a young fellow who lived in one of 
the outer towns, the poorest of the poor among 
our people ; and not only that, but he was so ugly 
that no woman would ever look at him without 
lauofhinsf. 

Now, there are two kinds of laugh with women. 
One of them is a very good sort of thing, and 
makes young men feel happy and conceited. The 
other kind is somewhat heartier, but makes young 
men feel depressed and very humble. It need not 
be asked which kind was laughed by the women 
when they saw this ugly, ragged, miserable-looking 
young man. He had bright twinkling eyes, how- 
ever, and that means more than all else sometimes. 



290 Zuni Folk Tales 

Now, this young man came to hear of what was 
going on. He had no present to offer the girl, but 
he admired her as much as — yes, a good deal more 
than — if he had been the handsomest young man 
of his time. So just in the way that he was he 
went to the house of this girl one evening. He 
was received politely, and it was noticeable to the 
old folks that the girl seemed rather to like him, — 
just as it is noticeable to you and me today that 
what people have they prize less than what they 
have not. The girl placed a tray of bread before 
the young man and bade him eat ; and after he 
had done, he looked around with his twinkling 
little eyes. And the old man said, " Let us smoke 
together." And so they smoked. 

By-and-by the old man asked if he were not 
thinking of something in coming to the house of a 
stranger. And the young man replied, it was very 
true ; he had thoughts, though he felt ashamed to 
say it, but he even wished to be accepted as a 
suitor for his daughter. 

The father referred the matter to the girl, and 
she said she would be very well satisfied ; then she 
took the young man aside and spoke a few words 
to him, — in fact, told him what were the conditions 
of his becoming her accepted husband. He smiled, 
and said he would certainly try to the best of his 
ability, but this was a very hard thing she asked. 

" I know it is," said the girl ; " that is why I ask it." 

Now, the young man left the house forthwith. 
The next day he very quietly went down into the 
corn-fields belonging to the girl, and over toward 



The Corn-Pests 291 

the northern mesa, for that is where her corn-fields 
were — lucky being ! He dug a great deep pit with 
a sharp stick and a bone shovel. Now, when he 
had dug it — very smooth at the sides and top it 
was — he went to the mountain and got some poles, 
placing them across the hole, and over these poles 
he spread earth, and set up corn-stalks just as 
though no hole had been dug there ; then he put 
some exceedingly tempting bait, plenty of it, over 
the center of these poles, which were so weak that 
nobody, however light of foot, could walk over 
them without breaking through. 

Night came on, and you could hear the Coyotes 
begin to sing ; and the whole army of pests — Bears, 
Badgers, Gophers, all sorts of creatures, as they 
came down slowly, each one in his own way, from 
the mountain. The Coyotes first came into the 
field, being swift of foot ; and one of them, nosing 
around and keeping a sharp lookout for watchers, 
happened to espy those wonderfully tempting mor- 
sels that lay over the hole. 

" Ha ! " said he (Coyotes don't think much what 
they are doing), and he gave a leap, when in he 
went — sticks, dirt, bait, and all — to the bottom of the 
hole. He picked himself up and rubbed the sand 
out of his eyes, then began to jump and jump, try- 
ing to eet out ; but it was of no use, and he set up 
a most doleful howl. 

He had just stopped for breath, when a Bear 
came along. " What in the name of all the devils 
and witches are you howling so for ? " said he. 
" Where are you ? " 



292 Zuni irolk Tales 

The Coyote swallowed his whimpers immediately, 
set himself up in a careless attitude, and cried out : 
" Broadfoot, lucky, lucky, lucky fellow ! Did you 
hear me singing ? I am the happiest creature on 
the face of the earth, or rather under it." 

" What about ? I should n't think you were 
happy, to judge from your howling." 

" Why ! Mercy on me ! " cried the Coyote, " I 
was singing for joy." 

" How 's that ? " asked the Bear. 

" Why," said the Coyote, " I came along here 
this evening and by the merest accident fell into 
this hole. And what do you suppose I found down 
here ? Green-corn, meat, sweet-stuff, and every- 
thing a corn-eater could wish for. The only thing 
I lacked to complete my happiness was someone 
to enjoy the meal with me. Jump in ! — it is n't very 
deep — and fall to, friend. We '11 have a jolly good 
night of it." 

So the old Bear looked down, drew back a minute, 
hesitated, and then jumped in. When the Bear got 
down there, the Coyote laid himself back, slapped 
his thiofhs, and lauo-hed and laugrhed and laughed. 
" Now, get out if you can," said he to the Bear. 
" You and I are in a pretty mess. I fell in here by 
accident, it is true, but I would give my teeth and 
eyes if I could get out again ! " 

The Bear came very near eating him up, but the 
Coyote whispered something in his ear. " Good ! " 
yelled the Bear. ** Ha ! ha ! ha ! Excellent idea ! 
Let us sine too-ether. Let them come ! " 

So they laughed and sang and feasted until they 



The Corn-Pests 293 

attracted almost every corn-pest in the fields to the 
spot to see what they were doing. " Keep away, 
my friends," cried out the Coyote. " No such luck 
for you. We got here first. Our spoils ! " 

"Can 't I come?" "Can 't I come?" cried out 
one after another. 

" Well, yes, — no, — there may not be enough for 
you all." " Come on, though ; come on ! who 
cares ? " — cried out the old Bear. And they rushed 
in so fast that very soon the pit-hole was almost full 
of them, scrambling to get ahead of one another, and 
before they knew their predicament they were al- 
ready in it. The Coyote laughed, shuffled around, 
and screamed at the top of his voice ; he climbed 
up over his grandfather the Bear, scrambled through 
the others, which were snarling and biting each 
other, and, knowing what he was about, skipped 
over their backs, out of the hole, and ran away 
laughing as hard as he could. 

Now, the next morning down to the corn-field 
came the young man. Drawing near to the pit he 
heard a tremendous racket, and going to the edge 
and peering in he saw that it was half filled with 
the pests which had been destroying the corn of 
the maiden, — every kind of creature that had ever 
meddled with the corn-fields of man, there they 
were in that deep pit ; some of them all tired out, 
waiting for " the end of their daylight," others still 
jumping and crawling and falling in their efforts to 
get out. 

" Good ! good ! my friends," cried the young 
man. " You must be cold ; I '11 warm you up a 



294 Zuni Folk Tales 

little." So he gathered a quantity of dry wood and 
threw it into the pit. " Be patient ! be patient ! " 
said he. " I hope I don't hurt any of you. It will 
be all over in a few minutes." Then he lighted 
the wood and burned the rascals all up. But he 
noticed the Coyote was not there. " What does it 
matter?" said he. "One kind of pest a man can 
fight, but not many." 

So he went back to the house of the girl and re- 
ported to her what he had done. She was so 
pleased she hardly knew how to express her grati- 
tude, but said to the young man with a smile on 
her face and a twinkle in her eye, " Are you quite 
sure they were all there ? " 

" Why, they were all there except the Coyote," 
said the young man ; " but I must tell you the truth, 
and somehow he got out or did n't get in." 

"Who cares for a Coyote!" said the girl. "I 
would much rather marry a man with some ingenu- 
ity about him than have all the Coyotes in the 
world to kill." Whereupon she accepted this very 
ugly but ingenious young man ; and it is notable 
that ever since then pretty girls care very little how 
their husbands look, being pretty enough them- 
selves for both. But they like to have them able 
to think and guess at a way of getting along occa- 
sionally. Furthermore, what does a rich girl care 
for a rich young man ? Ever since then, even to 
this day, as you know, rich girls almost invariably 
pick out poor young men for their husbands, and 
rich young men are sure to take a fancy to poor 
p"irls. 



The Corn-Pests 



295 



Thus it was in the days of the ancients. The 
Coyote got out of the trap that was set for him by 
the ugly young man. That is the reason wh)- 
coyotes are so much more abundant than any other 
corn-pests In the land of Zuni, and do what you 
will, they are sure to get away with some of your 
corn, anyhow. 

Thus shortens my story. 




? 



JACK-RABBIT AND COTTONTAIL 

ANCIENTLY the Jack-rabbit lived in a sage 
plain, and the Cottontail rabbit lived in a 
cliff hard by. They saw the clouds gather, so they 
went out to sing. The long-legged Jack-rabbit 
sang for snow, thus : 

" U pi na wi sho, U pi na wi sho, 
U kuk uku u kuk ! " 

But the short-legged Cottontail sang for rain, like 

this : 

" Hatchi ethla ho na an saia." 

That 's what they sung — one asking for snow, 
the other for rain ; hence to this day the Pok'ia 
(Jack-rabbit) runs when it snows, the A'kshiko 
(Cottontail) when it rains. 

Thus shortens my story. 




^f. . 




296 



THE RABBIT HUNTRESS AND HER 
ADVENTURES 

IT was long ago, In the days of the ancients, that 
a poor maiden Hved at K'yawana Tehua-tsana 
(" Little Gateway of Zuni River "). You know there 
are black stone walls of houses standing there on 
the tops of the cliffs of lava, above the narrow 
place through which the river runs, to this day. 

In one of these houses there lived this poor 
maiden alone with her feeble old father and her 
aged mother. She was unmarried, and her brothers 
had all been killed in wars, or had died gently ; so the 
family lived there helplessly, so far as many things 
were concerned, from the lack of men in their house. 

It is true that in makino- the (gardens — the little 
plantings of beans, pumpkins, squashes, melons, and 
corn — the maiden was able to do very well ; and 
thus mainly on the products of these things the 
family were supported. But, as in those days of 
our ancients we had neither sheep nor cattle, the 
hunt was depended upon to supply the meat ; or 
sometimes it was procured by barter of the pro- 
ducts of the fields to those who hunted mostly. 
Of these things this little family had barely enough 
for their own subsistence ; hence, they could not 
procure their supplies of meat in this way. 

Long before, it had been a great house, for 
many were the brave and strong young men who 
had lived in it ; but the rooms were now empty, or 

297 



298 Zuni Folk Tales 

at best contained only the leavings of those who 
had lived there, much used and worn out. 

One autumn day, near winter-time, snow fell, and 
it became very cold. The maiden had gathered 
brush and firewood in abundance, and it was piled 
alongr the roof of the house and down underneath 
the ladder which descended from the top. She 
saw the young men issue forth the next morning in 
great numbers, their feet protected by long stock- 
ings of deerskin, the fur turned inward, and they 
carried on their shoulders and stuck in their belts 
stone axes and rabbit-sticks. As she gazed at them 
from the roof, she said to herself : " O that I were 
a man and could go forth, as do these young men, 
hunting rabbits ! Then my poor old mother and 
father would not lack for flesh with which to duly 
season their food and nourish their lean bodies." 
Thus ran her thoughts, and before night, as she 
saw these same young men coming in, one after 
another, some of them bringing long strings of 
rabbits, others short ones, but none of them empty- 
handed, she decided that, woman though she was, 
she would set forth on the morrow to try what 
luck she might find in the killinor of rabbits herself. 

It may seem strange that, although this maiden 
was beautiful and young, the youths did not give 
her some of their rabbits. But their feelings were 
not friendly, for no one of them would she accept 
as a husband, although one after another of them 
had offered himself for marriage. 

Fully resolved, the girl that evening sat down by 
the fireplace, and turning toward her aged parents, 



The Rabbit Huntress 299 

said : " O my mother and father, I see that the 
snow has fallen, whereby easily rabbits are tracked, 
and the young men who went out this morning re- 
turned long before evening heavily laden with 
strings of this game. Behold, in the other rooms 
of our house are many rabbit-sticks, and there hang 
on the walls stone axes, and with these I might 
perchance strike down a rabbit on his trail, or, if he 
run into a log, split the log and dig him out. So I 
have thought during the day, and have decided to 
go tomorrow and try my fortunes in the hunt, 
woman thouQ^h I be." 

'' Naiya, my daughter," quavered the feeble old 
mother ; " you would surely be very cold, or you 
would lose your way, or grow so tired that you 
could not return before night, and you must not go 
out to hunt rabbits, woman as you are." 

"Why, certainly not," insisted the old man, rub- 
binof his lean knees and shakingf his head over the 
days that were gone. " No, no ; let us live in pov- 
erty rather than that you should run such risks as 
these, O my dauo^hter." 

But, say what they would, the girl was deter- 
mined. And the old man said at last : " Very 
well ! You will not be turned from your course. 
Therefore, O daughter, I will help you as best I 
may." He hobbled into another room, and found 
there some old deerskins covered thickly with fur ; 
and drawing them out, he moistened and carefully 
softened them, and cut out for the maiden long 
stockings, which he sewed up with sinew and the 
fiber of the yucca leaf. Then he selected for her 



300 Zuni Folk Tales 

from among the old possessions of his brothers and 
sons, who had been killed or perished otherwise, a 
number of rabbit-sticks and a fine, heavy stone axe. 
Meanwhile, the old woman busied herself in prepar- 
ing a lunch for the girl, which was composed of 
little cakes of corn-meal, spiced with pepper and 
wild onions, pierced through the middle, and baked 
in the ashes. When she had made a long string of 
these by threading them like beads on a rope of 
yucca fiber, she laid them down not far from the 
ladder on a little bench, with the rabbit-sticks, the 
stone axe, and the deerskin stockings. 

That night the maiden planned and planned, and 
early on the following morning, even before the 
young men had gone out from the town, she had 
put on a warm, short-skirted dress, knotted a mantle 
over her shoulder and thrown another and larger 
one over her back, drawn on the deerskin stockings, 
had thrown the string of corn-cakes over her shoul- 
der, stuck the rabbit-sticks in her belt, and carrying 
the stone axe in her hand sallied forth eastward 
through the Gateway of Zuni and into the plain of 
the valley beyond, called the Plain of the Burnt 
River, on account of the black, roasted-looking 
rocks along some parts of its sides. Dazzlingly 
white the snow stretched out before her, — not deep, 
but unbroken, — and when she came near the cliffs 
with many little canons in them, along the northern 
side of the valley, she saw many a trail of rabbits 
runninof out and in amono^ the rocks and between 
the bushes. 

Warm and excited by her unwonted exercise, she 



The Rabbit Huntress 301 

did not heed a coming snow-storm, but ran about 
from one place to another, following the trails of 
the rabbits, sometimes up into the canons, where 
the forests of pinon and cedar stood, and where 
here and there she had the good fortune sometimes 
to run two, three, or four rabbits into a single hol- 
low log. It was little work to split these logs, for 
they were small, as you know, and to dig out the 
rabbits and slay them by a blow of the hand on 
the nape of the neck, back of the ears ; and as she 
killed each rabbit she raised it reverently to her 
lips, and breathed from Its nostrils its expiring 
breath, and, tying its legs together, placed it on the 
string, which after a while began to grow heavy 
on her shoulders. Still she kept on, little heeding 
the snow which was falling fast ; nor did she notice 
that it was crrowinof darker and darker, so intent 
was she on the hunt, and so glad was she to capture 
so many rabbits. Indeed, she followed the trails 
until they were no longer visible, as the snow fell 
all around her, thinking all the while : " How happy 
will be my poor old father and mother that they 
shall now have flesh to eat ! How strong will they 
grow ! And when this meat is gone, that which Is 
dried and preserved of It also, lo ! another snow- 
storm will no doubt come, and I can go out hunt- 
ing again." 

At last the twilight came, and, looking around, 
she found that the snow had fallen deeply, there 
was no trail, and that she had lost her way. True, 
she turned about and started in the direction of 
her home, as she supposed, walking as fast as 



302 Zuni Folk Tales 

she could through the soft, deep snow. Yet she 
reckoned not rightly, for instead of going eastward 
along the valley, she went southward across it, 
and entering the mouth of the Descending Plain 
of the Pines, she went on and on, thinking she was 
eoine homeward, until at last it orrew dark and 
she knew not which way to turn. 

" What harm," thought she, " if I find a shel- 
tered place among the rocks ? What harm if I re- 
main all night, and go home in the morning when 
the snow has ceased falling, and by the light I 
shall know my way ? " 

So she turned about to some rocks which ap- 
peared, black and dim, a short distance away. For- 
tunately, among these rocks is the cave which is 
known as Taiuma's Cave. This she came to, and 
peering into that black hole, she saw in it, back 
some distance, a little glowing light. " Ha, ha !" 
thought she ; " perhaps some rabbit-hunters like 
myself, belated yesterday, passed the night here 
and left the fire burning. If so, this is greater 
good fortune than I could have looked for." So, 
lowering the strinof of rabbits which she carried on 
her shoulder, and throwing off her mantle, she 
crawled in, peering well into the darkness, for fear 
of wild beasts ; then, returning, she drew in the 
strinor of rabbits and the mantle. 

Behold ! there was a bed of hot coals buried in 
the ashes in the very middle of the cave, and piled 
up on one side were fragments of broken wood. 
The girl, happy in her good fortune, issued forth 
and QT-athered more sticks from the cliff-side, where 



The Rabbit Huntress 303 

dead pinons are found in great numbers, and bring- 
inof them in little armfuls one after another, she 
finally succeeded in gathering a store sufficient to 
keep the fire burning brightly all the night through. 
Then she drew off her snow-covered stockings of 
deerskin and the bedraggled mantles, and, building 
a fire, hung them up to dry and sat down to rest 
herself. The fire burned up and glowed brightly, 
so that the whole cave was as light as a room at 
night when a dance is being celebrated. By-and-by, 
after her clothing had dried, she spread a mantle on 
the floor of the cave by the side of the fire, and, 
sitting down, dressed one of her rabbits and roasted 
it, and, untying the string of corn-cakes her mother 
had made for her, feasted on the roasted meat 
and cakes. 

She had just finished her evening meal, and was 
about to recline and watch the fire for awhile, 
when she heard away off in the distance a long, 
low cry of distress — " Ho-0-0-0 thlaia-a ! " 

" Ah ! " thought the girl, " someone, more be- 
lated than myself, is lost ; doubtless one of the 
rabbit-hunters." She got up, and went nearer to 
the entrance of the cavern. 

" Ho-0-0-0 thlaia-a / " sounded the cry, nearer 
this time. She ran out, and, as it was repeated 
again, she placed her hand to her mouth, and cried, 
woman though she was, as loudly as possible : 
•' Li-i thlaia-a ! " (" Here ! ") 

The cry was repeated near at hand, and presently 
the maiden, listening first, and then shouting, and 
listening again , heard the clatter of an enormous 



304 Zuni Folk Tales 

rattle. In dismay and terror she threw her hands 
into the air, and, crouching down, rushed into the 
cave and retreated to its farthest limits, where she 
sat shuddering with fear, for she knew that one 
of the Cannibal Demons of those days, perhaps the 
renowned Atahsaia of the east, had seen the light 
of her fire through the cave entrance, with his 
terrible staring eyes, and assuming it to be a lost 
wanderer, had cried out, and so led her to guide 
him to her place of concealment. 

On came the Demon, snapping the twigs under 
his feet and shouting in a hoarse, loud voice : ''Ho 
lithlsh td ime!'" ("Ho, there! So you are in 
here, are you ?") Kothl ! clanged his rattle, while, 
almost fainting with terror, closer to the rock 
crouched the maiden. 

The old Demon came to the entrance of the 
cave and bawled out : " I am cold, I am hungry ! 
Let me in ! " Without further ado, he stooped 
and tried to get in ; but, behold ! the entrance was 
too small for his giant shoulders to pass. Then 
he pretended to be wonderfully civil, and said : 
" Come out, and bring me something to eat." 

" I have nothing for you," cried the maiden. 
" I have eaten my food." 

" Have you no rabbits ?" 

" Yes." 

" Come out and brinof me some of them." 

But the maiden was so terrified that she dared 
not move toward the entrance. 

" Throw me a rabbit ! " shouted the old Demon. 

The maiden threw him one of her precious 



The Rabbit Huntress 305 

rabbits at last, when she could rise and go to it. 
He clutched it with his long, horny hand, gave 
one gulp and swallowed it. Then he cried out : 
" Throw me another ! " She threw him another, 
which he also immediately swallowed ; and so on 
until the poor maiden had thrown all the rabbits 
to the voracious old monster. Every one she 
threw him he caught in his huge, yellow-tusked 
mouth, and swallowed, hair and all, at one gulp. 

" Throw me another ! " cried he, when the last 
had already been thrown to him. 

So the poor maiden was forced to say : " I have 
no more." 

" Throw me your overshoes ! " cried he. 

She threw the overshoes of deerskin, and these 
like the rabbits he speedily devoured. Then he 
called for her moccasins, and she threw them ; for 
her belt, and she threw it ; and finally, wonderful 
to tell, she threw even her mantle, and blanket, and 
her overdress, until, behold, she had nothing left ! 

Now, with all he had eaten, the old Demon was 
swollen hugely at the stomach, and, though he 
tried and tried to squeeze himself through the 
mouth of the cave, he could not by any means 
succeed. Finally, lifting his great flint axe, he 
began to shatter the rock about the entrance to 
the cave, and slowly but surely he enlarged the 
hole and the maiden now knew that as soon as he 
could get in he would devour her also, and she 
almost fainted at the sickening thought. Pound, 
pound, pound, pound, went the great axe of the 
Demon as he struck the rocks. 



3o6 Zufii Folk Tales 

In the distance the two War-gods were sitting 
in their home at Thla-uthla (the Shrine amid the 
Bushes) beyond Thunder Mountain, and though 
far off, they heard thus in the middle of the night 
the pounding of the Demon's hammer-axe against 
the rocks. And of course they knew at once that 
a poor maiden, for the sake of her father and 
mother, had been out hunting, — that she had lost 
her way and, finding a cave where there was a little 
fire, entered it, rebuilt the fire, and rested herself ; 
that, attracted by the light of her fire, the Cannibal 
Demon had come and besieged her retreat, and 
only a little time hence would he so enlarge the 
entrance to the cave that he could squeeze even 
his great over-filled paunch through it and come 
at the maiden to destroy her. So, catching up 
their wonderful weapons, these two War-gods 
flew away into the darkness and in no time they 
were approaching the Descending Plain of the 
Pines. 

Just as the Demon was about to enter the cavern, 
and the maiden had fainted at seeing his huge face 
and gray shock of hair and staring eyes, his yel- 
low, protruding tusks, and his horny, taloned hand, 
they came upon the old beast, and, each one hit- 
ting him a welt with his war-club, they " ended his 
daylight," and then hauled him forth into the open 
space. They opened his huge paunch and with- 
drew from It the maiden's garments, and even the 
rabbits which had been slain. The rabbits they 
cast away amongst the soap-weed plants that grew 
on the slope at the foot of the cliff. The gar- 



The Rabbit Huntress 307 

ments they spread out on the snow, and by their 
knowledge cleansed and made them perfect, even 
more perfect than they had been before. Then, 
flinging the huge body of the giant Demon down 
into the depths of the canon, they turned them 
about and, calling out gentle words to the maiden, 
entered and restored her ; and she, seeing in them 
not their usual ugly persons, but handsome youths 
(as like to one another as are two deer born of 
the same mother), was greatly comforted ; and 
bending low, and breathing upon their hands, 
thanked them over and over for the rescue they 
had broueht her. But she crouched herself low 
with shame that her garments were but few, when, 
behold ! the youths went out and brought in to her 
the garments they had cleaned by their knowledge, 
restoring them to her. 

Then, spreading their mantles by the door of the 
cave, they slept there that night, in order to pro- 
tect the maiden, and on the morrow wakened her. 
They told her many things, and showed her many 
things which she had not known before, and coun- 
selled her thus : " It is not fearful that a maiden 
should marry ; therefore, O maiden, return unto 
thy people in the Village of the Gateway of the 
River of Zufii. This morning we will slay rabbits 
unnumbered for you, and start you on your way, 
guarding you down the snow-covered valley, and 
when you are in sight of your home we will leave 
you, telling you our names." 

So, early in the morning the two gods went forth ; 
and flinging their sticks among the soap-weed 



3o8 Zuni Folk Tales 

plants, behold ! as though the soap-weed plants 
were rabbits, so many lay killed on the snow 
before these mighty hunters. And they gath- 
ered toorether o-reat numbers of these rabbits, a 
string for each one of the party ; and when the 
Sun had risen clearer in the sky, and his light 
sparkled on the snow around them, they took the 
rabbits to the maiden and presented them, saying : 
" We will carry each one of us a string of these 
rabbits." Then taking her hand, they led her out 
of the cave and down the valley, until, beyond on 
the high black mesas at the Gateway of the River 
of Zuni, she saw the smoke rise from the houses 
of her village. Then turned the two War-gods 
to her, and they told her their names. And again 
she bent low, and breathed on their hands. Then, 
dropping the strings of rabbits which they had 
carried close beside the maiden, they swiftly 
disappeared. 

Thinking much of all she had learned, she con- 
tinued her way to the home of her father and 
mother ; and as she went into the town, stagger- 
ing under her load of rabbits, the young men and 
the old men and women and children beheld her 
with wonder ; and no hunter in that town thought 
of comparing himself with the Maiden Huntress 
of K'yawana Tehua-tsana. The old man and the 
old woman, who had mourned the night through 
and sat up anxiously watching, were overcome 
with happiness when they saw their daughter re- 
turning ; and as she laid the rabbits at their feet, 
she said: "Behold! my father and my mother, 



The Rabbit Huntress 309 

foolish have I been, and much danger have I 
passed through, because I forgot the ways of a 
woman and assumed the ways of a man. But two 
wondrous youths have taught me that a woman 
may be a huntress and yet never leave her own 
fireside. Behold ! I will marry, when some good 
youth comes to me, and he will hunt rabbits and 
deer for me, for my parents and my children." 

So, one day, when one of those youths who had 
seen her come in laden with rabbits, and who 
had admired her time out of mind, presented him- 
self with a bundle at the maiden's fireside, behold ! 
she smilingly and delightedly accepted him. And 
from that day to this, when women would hunt 
rabbits or deer, they marry, and behold, the rabbits 
and deer are hunted. 

Thus shortens my story. 



THE UGLY WILD BOY WHO DROVE 
THE BEAR AWAY FROM SOUTH- 
EASTERN MESA 

IN the days of the ancients there lived with his 
old grandmother, not far from K'iakime, east, 
where the sweet wafer-bread is pictured on the 
rocks, a frightfully ugly boy. The color of his 
body and face was blue. He had a twisted nose, 
crooked scars of various colors ran down each side 
of his face, and he had a bunch of red things like 
peppers on his head ; in fact, in all ways he re- 
sembled the H^hea, or the wild men of the Sacred 
Dance who serve as runners to the priest-clowns. 

Now, one season it had rained so much that the 
pinon trees were laden with nuts, and the datilas 
were heavy with fruit, and the gray grass and red- 
top were so heavy with seeds that even when the 
wind did not blow they bent as if in a breeze. 

In vain the people of K'iakime went to the 
Southeastern Mesa, where the nut trees and datilas 
and grass grew. They could not gather the nuts 
and the fruit and the seeds, because of the ugly 
old Bear who claimed the country and its products 
for his own, and waxed fat thereon. Some of the 
people were killed by him, others were maimed, 
and all the rest were driven away. 

One day the ugly little boy said to his grand- 
mother: " O grandmother, I am going out to gather 
datilas and pinon nuts on the Southeastern Mesa." 

310 



The Ugly Wild Boy 311 

"Child, child!" cried the o-randmother, "do 
not go ; do not, by any means, go ! You know 
very well there is an ugly Bear there who will either 
kill you or maim you frightfully." 

" I don't care for all that ! " cried the boy ; " I 
am going ! " Whereupon he went. 

He followed the trail called the Road of the 
Pending Meal-sack, and he climbed the crooked 
path up Shoyakoskwe (Southeastern Mesa), and 
advanced over the wide plateau. No sooner had 
he begun to pluck the sweet datila fruit and eat of 
it, and had cracked between his teeth an occasional 
piflon nut, than " Wha-a-a-a ! " snarled the old Bear ; 
and he came rushing out of the nearest thicket 
toward the boy. 

" U sJioma kutchi kihe ! '' shouted the boy. 
" Friend, friend, don't bite me ! It '11 hurt ! Don't 
bite me ! I came to make a bargain with you." 

" I 'd like to know why I should n't bite you ! " 
growled the Bear. *' I '11 tear you to pieces. 
What have you come to my country for, stealing 
my fruit and nuts and grass-seed ? " 

" I came to get something to eat," replied the 
boy, " You have plenty." 

" Indeed, I have not. I will let you pick 
nothing. I will tear you to pieces ! " said the 
Bear. 

" Don't, don't, and I will make a bargain with 
you," said the boy. 

" Who should talk of bargains to me ? " yelled 
the Bear, cracking a small pine-tree to pieces with 
his paws and teeth, so great was his rage. 



312 Zuni Folk Tales 

" These things are no more yours than mine," 
said the boy, "and I '11 prove it." 

" How ?" asked the Bear. 

" They are mine ; they are not yours ! " cried 
the boy. 

" They are mine, I tell you ! They are not 
yours ! " replied the Bear. 

" They are mine !" retorted the boy. 

And so they might have wrangled till sunset, or 
torn one another into pieces, had it not been for a 
suggestion that the boy made. 

" Look here ! I '11 make a proposition to you," 
said he. 

" What 's that ? asked the Bear. 

" Whoever is certain of his rights on this plateau 
and the things that grow on it must prove it by not 
being scared by anything that the other does," said 
the boy. 

" Ha, ha!" laughed the Bear, in his big, coarse 
voice. " That is a good plan, indeed. I am per- 
fectly willing to stand the test." 

" Well, now, one of us must run away and 
hide," said the boy, " and then the other must 
come on him unaware in some way and frighten 
him, if he can." 

" All right," said the Bear. " Who first ?" 

" Just as you say," said the boy. 

" Well, then, I will try you first," said the Bear, 
" for this place belongs to me." Whereupon he 
turned and fled into the thicket. And the boy 
went around picking datilas and eating them, and 
throwing the skins away. Presently the Bear 



The Ugly Wild Boy 313 

came rushing out of the thicket, snappinor the 
trees and twigs, and throwing them about at such a 
rate that you would have thought there was a sand- 
storm raging through the forest. 

" Ku hai yaau .' 
Ku pekivia nn ! 

Ha ! ha .' ha ! haaaa ! ' ' 

he exclaimed, rushing at the boy from the rear. 

The boy stirred never so much as a leaf, only 
kept on champing his datilas. 

Aeain the Bear retired, and a<jain he came 
rushine forth and snarlino^ out : " //a / ha / ha / 
hu / hu ! Jiu!'''' in a terrific voice, and grabbed the 
boy ; but never so much as the boy's heart stirred. 

" By my senses ! " exclaimed the Bear ; " you are 
a man, and I must give it up. Now, suppose 
you try me. I can stand as much frightening 
as you, and, unless you can frighten me, I tell you 
you must keep away from my datila and pinon 
patch." 

Then the boy turned on his heel and fled away 
toward his grandmother's house, singing as he 
went : 

''''Kuyaina itoshlakyanaa ! 
Kuyaina itoshlakyanaa / " 

He of the pinon patch frightened shall be ! 
He of the pinon patch frightened shall be ! 

" Oh ! shall he ? " cried his grandmother. " I 
declare, I am surprised to see you come back 
alive and well." 

"Hurry up, grandmother," said the boy, "and 
paint me as frightfully as you can." 



314 Zufii Folk Tales 

" All right, my son ; I will help you ! " So she 
blackened the right side of his face with soot, 
and painted the left side with ashes, until he 
looked like a veritable demon. Then she gave 
him a stone axe of ancient time and magic power, 
and she said : " Take this, my son, and see what 
you can do with it." 

The boy ran back to the mountain. The Bear 
was wandering around eating datilas. The boy 
suddenly ran toward him, and exclaimed : 

' ' Ai yaaaa ! 

He ! he ! he ! he ! he ! he ! he ! tooh ! ' '— 

and he whacked the side of a hollow pinon tree 
with his axe. The tree was shivered with a thun- 
dering noise, the earth shook, and the Bear jumped 
as if he had been struck by one of the flying 
splinters. Then, recovering himself and catching 
sight of the boy, he exclaimed : " What a fool I am, 
to be scared by that little wretch of a boy ! " But 
presently, seeing the boy's face, he was startled 
again, and exclaimed : " By my eyes, the Death 
Demon is after me, surely ! " 

Again the boy, as he came near, whacked with 
his magic axe the body of another tree, calling out 
in a still louder voice. The earth shook so much 
and the noise was so thunderous that the Bear 
sneezed with agitation. And again, as the boy 
came still nearer, once more he struck a tree a 
tremendous blow, and again the earth thundered 
and trembled more violently than ever, and the Bear 
almost lost his senses with fright and thought surely 



The Ugly Wild Boy 315 

the Corpse Demon was coming this time. When, 
for the fourth time, the boy struck a tree, close 
to the Bear, the old fellow was thrown violently 
to the ground with the heaving of the earth and 
the bellowing of the sounds that issued forth. Pick- 
ing himself up as fast as he could, never stopping to 
see whether it was a boy or a devil, he fled to the 
eastward as fast as his legs would carry him, and, 
as he heard the boy following him, he never 
stopped until he reached the Zuni Mountains. 

" There ! " said the boy ; " I '11 chase the old rogue 
no farther. He's been living all these years on 
the mountain where more fruit and nuts and o^rass- 
seed grow than a thousand Bears could eat, and 
yet he 's never let so much as a single soul of the 
town of K'iakime gfather a bit." 

Then the boy returned to his grandmother, 
and related to her what had taken place. 

" Go," said she, " and tell the people of K'ia- 
kime, from the top of yonder high rock, that those 
who wish to go out to gather grass-seed and datilas 
and pinon nuts need fear no longer." 

So the boy went out, and, mounting the high 
rock, informed and directed the people as follows : 

" Ye of the Home of the Eagles ! Ye do I now 
inform, whomsoever of ye would gather datilas, 
whomsoever of ye would gather pinon nuts, whom- 
soever of ye would gather grass-seed, that bread 
may be made, hie ye over the mountains, and 
gather them to your hearts' content, for I have 
driven the Bear away ! " 

A few believed in what the boy said ; and some, 



o 



1 6 Zuni Folk Tales 



because he was ugly, would not believe It and 
would not go ; and thus were as much hindered 
from gathering grass-seed and nuts for daily food 
as if the Bear had been really there. You know 
people nowadays are often frightened by such a 
kind of Bear as this. 

Thus it was in the days of the ancients. And 
therefore the Zuni Mountains to this day are 
filled with bears ; but they rarely descend to the 
mesas in the southwest, being fully convinced from 
the experience of their ancestor that the Corpse 
Demon is near and continues to lie in wait for 
them. And our people go over the mountains as 
they will, even women and children, and gather 
datila fruit, pinon nuts, and grass-seed without 
hindrance. 

Thus shortens my story. 



THE REVENGE OF THE TWO BROTH- 
ERS ON THE HAWIKUHKWE, OR 
THE TWO LITTLE ONES^ AND 
THEIR TURKEYS 



L 



(the origin of the priests and chiefs of 

THE dance of victory) 

ONG, long ago, there lived on Twin Mountain, 
Ahaiyiita and his younger brother, with their 
grandmother. They had a large flock of Turkeys 
of which they were very fond, but were not so 
attentive to them as they should have been. Said 
the grandmother to the boys, late one morning : 
" Let your poor Turkeys out, for they will starve, 
poor birds, if you do not let them out oftener." 

" But they will run away, grandmother," said the 
two boys, who did not fancy herding them much 
of the time. 

" Why should they run away ? " asked the vexed 
grandmother, who had a sorry enough time manag- 
ing the two heedless boys. " Rest assured they 
will come back when roosting-time comes, for such 
is their custom." 

So the Twain ran down and reluctantly let their 
Turkeys go. The Turkeys were many — dirty old 
hens, piping, long-legged youngsters, and noisy old 

1 This term refers to the two Gods of War, Ahaiyuta and Matsailema, 
who, as has been seen in previous tales, were accounted immortal twin 
youths of small size. 

317 



3i8 Zuni Folk Tales 

cocks ; but they were all more noisy when they 
were let out, and not long was it before they were 
straying far beyond the border of woods and 
toward Hawikuh. 

Not long after noon the flock of Turkeys 
strolled, gobbling and chirping, into the valley 
north of Hawikuh ^ where many of the people of 
that pueblo had corn-fields. Some young men 
who were resting from their hoeing heard the 
calls of the Turkeys, and, starting up, saw across 
the valley a larger flock than they had ever been 
wont to find. Of course they were crazy. They 
started up and ran as fast as they could toward 
the pueblo, calling out as they went what they 
had discovered, so that all the people in the 
fields began to gather in. As soon as they came 
within the pueblo, they sought out the Priests of 
the Bow and told them what they had discovered. 

Very quickly ran the priests to the tops of the 
houses, and they began to call out to their people : 
" Ye we would this day make wise, for our sons 
tell us of many Turkeys in the valley over the 
hill ; so hasten ye to gather together good bows 
and arrows, boomerangs, and strings, that ye may 
be made happy and add unto your flocks and 
make more plentiful the plumes in your feather 
boxes." 

In a very short time the people were rushing 
out of their doorways all prepared for the chase, 

' Hawikuh, or Aguico of the Spaniards, a pueblo now in ruins across 
the valley northwestward from Ojo Caliente, the southwestern farming 
town of the Zunis. 



Reventre of the Two Brothers 3 '9 



'£> 



and they ran after the young men and leaders as 
thougrh in a race of the kicked stick. 

Now, the sage-bushes and grasses grow tall to 
this day in the valley north of Hawikuh, and so 
they grew in the days long, long ago that I tell of. 
It thus happened that the poor Turkeys who were 
racing after grasshoppers, and peeping, and calling, 
and gobbling, did not know that the Hawikuh 
people were after them until they heard some old 
hens calling out in alarm from behind. Even then 
they were unable to get away, for the people were 
around them shouting and hurling crooked sticks, 
and shooting sharp arrows at them in all direc- 
tions. Soon they began to fall on every side, 
especially the long-legged young ones, who so tan- 
gled their legs in the grasses that they could not 
keep up with their mothers, and were easily over- 
taken by the hunters of Hawikuh ; and the old 
hens who stayed behind to look after the young 
ones were no better, and the cocks who stayed 
back to look after the old hens were even worse 
off, for the people sought them most because their 
feathers were so much brighter. 

So it happened in a very short time that more 
than half the flock were killed and others were 
falling when a half-grown Long-leg started as fast 
as he could alone toward Twin Mountain. 

It was erowinor late, and Ahaiyiita and his 
younger brother and their old grandmother were 
on top of their house shading their eyes and watch- 
ing for the return of the Turkeys, when they saw 
the solitary young Long-leg coming, all out of 



j2o Zuni Folk Tales 

breath and his wings dragging, over the hill below 
Master Canon. 

" Ha ! " said the younger brother ; ** look ! there 
comes a Long-legs, — and what is he shouting ? — 
Jump up, brother, jump up ! Do you hear that ?" 

'''' I-wo-loh-kia-a — a — «/" called the Turkey, so 
that they could just hear him ; and as that means 
.*' Murder ! Murder ! " you may think to yourself 
how much they were excited ; but they were not so 
much alarmed as the old grandmother, " for," said 
they, one to the other, " it is nothing but a young- 
ster, anyway, and they are always more scared than 
the old ones." 

Nevertheless, they hastened down to meet him, 
and as they approached they saw that he was ter- 
ribly frightened, so they anxiously waited until he 
breathed more easily and would stand still ; then 
they asked : " What is it ? Where is it ? Why 
do you come alone, crying ' Murder, Murder ! ' " 

'* Alas ! my fathers," exclaimed the Turkey. 
"Alas! I, alone, am left to tell of it; ere I left 
they were thrown down all around me." 

" Who did this ? " angrily demanded the boys. 

" The people of Hawikuh," exclaimed the Tur- 
key, glancing apprehensively around. 

" Ha ! we shall yet win back our loss," ejaculated 
the boys to one another; and then they turned 
to the Turkey. " Are they all murdered and 
gone ? " they asked. 

" Yes, alas ! yes ; I alone am left," moaned the 
young Turkey. 

" Oh, no ! " broke in the elder brother, " there 



Reveno:e of the Two Brothers ^21 



't> 



will yet many return, for this is but a Long-leg, and 
surely when he could save himself others and older 
ones could." Even then they heard some of the 
Turkeys calling to one another, out of breath over 
the low hills. '' U-kwa-tchi ! '' ("Did n't I tell 
you ! ") exclaimed Ahaiyiita, and they started tow- 
ard the mountain. 

One by one, or in little bunches, the Turkeys 
came fleeing in, scared, weary, and bedraggled ; 
and the boys knew by this, and that only a 
few after all returned, that the Long-leg had not 
been for nothing taught to fear. They betook 
themselves to their house. There they sat down 
to eat with their grandmother, and after the eat- 
ing was finished, they poked little sticks into the 
blazing fire on the hearth, and cried out to their 
grandmother : " Tomorrow, grandmother, we will 
gather fagots." 

" Foolish, foolish boys!" croned the old grand- 
mother. 

" Aye, tomorrow we will gather sprouts. 
Where do they grow thickest and straightest, 
grandmother ? " 

" Now, you boys had better let sprouts and war 
alone," retorted the grandmother. 

" But we must win back our losing," cried the 
boys, with so much vehemence that the grandmother 
only shook her head and exclaimed: '' A-ti-ki ! 
(" Blood ! ") Strange creatures, my grandchildren, 
both ! " whereupon the two boys poked one the 
other and laucrhed. 

" Well," added the grandmother, " I have warned 



322 Zuni Folk Tales 

you ; now act your own thoughts " ; — and the boys 
looked at her as earnestly as though they knew 
nothing of what she would say. " Fine warriors, 
indeed, who do not know where to look for arrow- 
sticks ! But if you will go sprouting, why, over 
there in the Rain-pond Basin are plenty of sprouts, 
and then north on Scale Ridge grow more, and 
over in Oak Canon are fine oak-sprouts, more than 
ten boys like you could carry, and above here 
around Great Mountain are other kinds, and every- 
where grow sprouts enough, if people were n't beasts 
passing understanding ; and, what 's more, I could 
tell you boys something to your advantage if you 
would ever listen to your old grandmother, but — " 

" What is it ? What is it ? " interrupted the 
boys excitedly, just as if they knew nothing of 
what she would say. 

" Why, over there by the Rain-pond Basin lives 
your grandfather — " 

" Who 's that ? Who 's that ? " interrupted the 
boys again. 

" I 've a mind not to tell you, you shameless little 
beasts, another word," jerked out the old grand- 
mother, sucking her lips as if they were marrow- 
bones, and digging into the pudding she was 
stirring as though it were alive enough to be 
killed, — " just as though I were not telling you 
as fast as I could ; and, besides, anything but little 
beasts would know their grandfather — why, the 
Rainbow-worm, of course ! " ^ 

' One of the " measuring- worms " which is named the rainbow, on ac- 
count of his streaked back and habit of bending double when travelling. 



Revenge of the Two Brothers 322, 

" The Rainbow-worm our grandfather, indeed ! " 
persisted the boys ; and they would have said more 
had not their grandmother, getting cross, raised 
the pudding-stick at them, and bid them " shut 
up ! " So they subsided, and the old woman con- 
tinued : " Yes, your grandfather, and for shame ! — 
You may sit there and giggle all you please, but 
your grandfather the Rainbow-worm is a great 
warrior, I can tell you, and if you boys will go 
sprouting, why, I can tell you, you will fare but 
with poverty the day after, if you do not get him 
to help you, that 's all ! " 

" Indeed," replied the boys, quite respectfully. 

" Yes, that I tell you ; and, moresoever, over 
there beyond at the wood border, in a pond, is 
your other grandfather, and he is a great war- 
rior, too." 

** Indeed ! " exclaimed the boys, as though they 
did not know that already, also. 

" Yes, and you must go to see him, too ; for you 
can 't get along without him any more than with- 
out the other. Now, you boys go to sleep, for you 
will want to get up very early in the morning, and 
you must go down the path and straight over the 
little hills to where your grandfathers live, and not 
up into the Master Cafion to gather your sticks, 
for if you do you will forget all I 've told you. 
You are creatures who pass comprehension, you 
two grandchildren of mine." 

So the two boys lay down in the corner together 
under one robe, like a man and his wife, for they 
did not sleep apart like our boys. But, do you 



324 Zuni Folk Tales 

know, those two mischievous boys giggled and 
kicked one another, and kept turning about, just 
as though they never dreamed of the morning. 
Then they fell to quarrelling about who could turn 
over the quicker. 

" I can," said the elder brother. 

" You can 't ! " 

" I can ! " 

" No, you can 't ! " 

"Yes, I can, and I'll show you"; and he was 
about to brace himself for the trial when the old 
grandmother strode over with her pudding-stick, 
lifting it in the air, with her usual expression of 
" Blood ! my grandchildren both," when they 
quieted down and pretended to sleep ; but still 
they kept giggling and trying to pull the cover off 
each other. 

" Stop that gaping and fooling, will you ? And 
go to sleep, you nasty little cubs ! " cried the irri- 
tated old woman ; and laughing outright at their 
poor old grandmother, they put their arms around 
each other and fell asleep. 

Next morning the sun rose, till he shone straight 
over the mountain, but still the two boys were 
asleep. The old grandmother had gone out to 
water her garden, and now she was sitting on the 
house-top shading her eyes and looking down the 
trail she had told the boys to follow, to see them 
come out of the shadow. 

After she had strained her poor old eyes till 
they watered, she grew impatient : " Did I ever 
see such boys ! Now they've gone and played me 



Revenge of the Two Brothers 325 

another trick. They '11 rue their pranks some 
day." Then she thought she would go down and 
get some mush for breakfast. As she climbed 
down the ladder, she heard a tremendous snorinof. 
" Ho, ho ! " exclaimed the old grandmother ; and 
striding across the room she shook the boys 
soundly. " Get up, get up ! you lazy creatures ; 
fine sprouters, you ! " 

The boys rolled over, rubbed their eyes, and 
began to stretch. 

" Get up, get up ! the day is warmed long ago ; 
fine warriors, you ! " reiterated the old woman, giv- 
ing them another shaking. 

The boys sat up, stretched, gaped, rubbed their 
eyes, and scratched their heads — the dirtiest little 
fellows ever seen — but they were only making be- 
lieve. Their arms were crusty with dirt, and their 
hair stood out like down on a wild milkweed after 
a rain-storm, and yet these boys were the hand- 
somest children that ever lived — only they were 
fooling their old grandmother, you see. 

" You 'd better be down at the spring washing 
your eyes at sunrise, instead of scratching your 
heads here with the sun shining already down the 
sky-hole " ; croaked the old woman. 

"What! is the sun out?" cried the boys in 
mock surprise ; but they knew what time it was 
as well as the old crone did. 

" Out ! I should say it was ! You boys might 
as well go to sleep again. A fine bundle of sticks 
you could get today, with the sun done climbing 
up already." 



326 Zuni Folk Tales 

So the boys pretended to be in a great hurry 
and, grabbing up their bows and quivers, never 
stopped to half dress nor heeded the old woman's 
offer of food, but were jumping down the crags 
like mountain goats before the old woman was 
up the ladder, 

''Atiki!'' exclaimed the grandmother; "these 
beasts that cause meditation ! " Then she climbed 
the terrace and watched and watched and watched ; 
but the boys liked nothing better than to worry 
their old grandmother, so they ran up Master 
Canon and into the woods and so across to Rain- 
pond Basin, leaving the old woman to look as she 
would. 

"67////" groaned the old woman; "they are 
down among the rocks playing. Fine warriors, 
they ! " and with this she went back to her cooking. 

By-and-by the boys came to the edge of the 
basin where the pod plant grew. Sure enough, 
there was the Rainbow-worm, eating leaves as 
though he were dying of hunger — a great fat fel- 
low, as big as the boys themselves ; for long, 
long ago, in the days I tell you of, the Rainbow- 
worm was much bigger than he is now. 

" Hold on," said the younger brother. " Let's 
frighten the old fellow." 

So they sneaked up until they were close to the 
grandfather, and then they began to tickle him with 
a stalk. Amiwili — that was his name — twitched 
his skin and bit away faster and faster at the leaves, 
until Ahaiyiita shouted at the top of his voice, 
" Ha-u-thla / " which made the old man jump and 



Re venose of the Two Brothers 327 



turn back so quickly that he would have broken 
his back had he a back-bone. 

" Shoma ! " he exclaimed. " It 's my grandchil- 
dren, is it ? I am old and a little deaf, and you 
frightened me, my boys." 

"Did we frighten you, grandfather? That's 
too bad. Well, never mind ; we 've come to you for 
advice." 

" What 's that, my grandchildren ? " looking out 
of his yellow eyes as though he were very wise, 
and standing up on his head and tail as though 
they had been two feet. 

"Why, you see," said the boys, "we had a big 
drove of Turkeys, and we let them out to feed 
yesterday, but the fools got too near Hawikuh and 
the people there killed many, many of them ; so 
we have decided to get back our winnings and even 
the game with them, the shameless beasts ! " 

" Ah ha ! " exclaimed old Amiwili. " Very well ! " 
and he lay down on his belly and lifted his head 
into the air like a man resting on his elbows. 
" Ah ha ! " said he, with a wag of his head and a 
squint of his goggle. " Ah ha ! Very well ! I '11 
show them that they are not to treat my grand- 
children like that. I 'm a warrior, every direction 
of me — and there are a great many directions 
when I get angry, now, I can tell you ! I 'm just 
made to use up life," said he, with another swag- 
ger of his head, 

" Listen to that ! " said Matsailema to his 
brother. 

"To use up life, that's what I'm for," added 



328 Zuni Folk Tales 

the old man, with emphasis ; " I '11 show the Hawi- 
kuhkwe ! " 

" Will you come to the council ? " asked the 
two boys. 

'' Skuatkla" swaggered the old man — which 
is a very old-fashioned word that our grandfathers 
used when they said : " Go ye but before me." 

So the boys skipped over to the pool at the 
wood border. There was their old grandfather, 
the Turtle, with his eyes squinted up, paddling 
round in the scum, and stretching his long neck 
up to bite off the heads of the water-rushes. 

*' Let's have some fun with the old Shield-back," 
said the boys to one another. "Just you hold a 
moment, brother elder," said Matsailema as he 
fitted an arrow to the strino- and drew it clean to 
the point. Tsi-i-i-i thle-e-e ! sang the arrow as it 
struck the back of the old Turtle ; and although 
he was as big as the Turtles in the big Waters of 
the World now are, the force and fright ducked 
him under the scum like a chip, and he came up 
with his eyes slimy and his mouth full of spittle, 
and his legs flying round too fast to be counted. 
When he spied the two boys, he cursed them 
harder than their grandmother did, but they hardly 
heard him, for their arrow glanced upward from 
his back and came down so straight that they had 
to run for their lives. "• Atiki ! troublesome little 
beasts, who never knew what shame nor dignity 
was ! " exclaimed the old fellow. 

" Don't be angry with us, grandpa," said the 
boys. " You must be deaf, for we called and 



Revenge of the Two Brothers 329 

called to you, but you only paddled round and 
ate rushes ; so we thought we would fire an arrow 
at you, for you know we could n 't get at you." 

" Oh, that 's it ! Well, what may my grand- 
children be thinking of, in thus coming to see me? 
It cannot be for nothing," reflected the old man, 
as he twisted his head up toward them and pushed 
the scum with his tail. 

" Quite true, grandfather ; we 've started out 
sprouting, and had to come to our grandfather 
for advice." 

"Why, what is it then?" queried the old 
Shield-back. 

" You see, we have a flock of Turkeys — " 

" Yes, I know," interrupted the old man, " for 
they came down here to drink yesterday and broke 
my morning nap with their * quit quit quittings ! ' " 

" Well," resumed the boys, " they went toward 
the Hawikuhkwe, and the shameless beasts, that 
they are, turned out and killed very nearly all of 
them, and we 're going to even matters with them ; 
that's why we are out sprouting." 

" Ah ha ! " cried the old man, paddling up nearer 
to the bank. "Good! Well, that's right, my 
grandchildren ; you show that you are the wise 
boys that you are to come to me. I 'm a great 
warrior, I am, for though I have neither bow nor 
arrow, yet the more my enemies have, the worse 
for themselves, that 's all. You two just wait until 
tomorrow," and he stretched his head out until 
it looked as though he kept a snake in his 
shell. 



33^ Zuni Folk Tales 

" Will you help us ? " asked the boys. (They 
knew very well he would like nothing better.) 

" Of course, my grandchildren." 

" Will you come to the council?" 

"Of course, my grandchildren two. How many 
will be there ? " called the old fellow. 

"The house shall be as full as a full stomach," 
retorted the boys, jousting each other. 

" Thluathld ! '' gruffly said Etawa, for that was 
the Turtle's name. 

So the boys started for Oak-wood Canon, and, 
arrived there, soon had a large bundle of branches 
cut down with their big flint knives, and four 
stout, dry oak-sticks. They shouldered their 
" sprouts " and started home, and, although they 
had bundles big enough to almost hide them, they 
trotted along as though they had nothing. On 
their way they picked up a lot of obsidian, and 
went fast enough until they were near their 
home, and then they were " very tired " — so tired 
that the old orrandmother, when she caught sieht 
of them, pitied them, and hurried down to stir 
some mush for them. She buried some corn-cakes 
in the ashes, too, and roasted some prairie-dogs 
in the same way ; so that when those two lying 
little rascals came up and seemed so worn-out, she 
hurried so fast to get their food ready that it made 
her sinews twitch. 

When the boys had eaten all they could and 
cracked a few prairie-dog bones, they fell to 
breaking the sprouts. They worked with their 
stone chips very fast, and soon had barked all they 



Revenge of the Two Brothers 33^ 

wanted. These they straightened by passing them 
through their horns ^ and placed them before the 
fire. While the shafts were drying, they broke 
up the obsidian, and laying chips of it on a stone 
covered with buckskin, quickly fashioned them 
into sharp arrow-heads with the points of other 
stones, and these they fastened to the ends of the 
shafts, placing feathers of the eagle on the other 
ends, until they had made enough for four big 
bundles. Then they made a bow of each of the 
four oak-sticks, and stood them up to dry against 
the wall. 

As it grew dark they heard something like a 
dry leaf in a little wind. 

" Ah ! " said one to the other, " our grandfather 
comes " ; and sure enough presently Amiwili poked 
his yellow eyes in at the door, but quickly drew 
back again. 

''Kutchi!''' said he, "your fire is fearful; it 
scares me ! " 

" The grandfather cometh ! " exclaimed the boys. 
" Come in ; sit down." 

" Very well. Ah ! you are stretching shafts, are 
you ? " said the old Worm, crawling around behind 
the boys and into the darkest corner he could find. 

" Yes," replied they. " Why do you not come 
out into the light, grandpa ? " 

' Fragments of mountain-sheep horn are used to this day by the Zunis 
for the same purpose. They are flattened by heat and perforated with 
holes of varying size. By introducing the shaft to be straightened, and 
rubbing with a twisting motion the inner sides of the crooked portions, 
they are gradually straightened out, afterward to be straightened by hand 
from time to time as they dry before the fire. 



332 Zufii Folk Tales 

'' Kutchi ! I fear the fire ; it hurts my eyes, and 
makes me feel as the sun does after a rain-storm 
and I have no leaves to crawl into." 

" Very well," said the boys. " Grandmother, 
spread a robe for him in the corner." Then they 
busied themselves straiorhteningr some of the arrows 
and trying their bows. Just as they were pulling 
one toward the entrance way, they heard old Etawa 
thumping along, and immediately the old fellow 
called out : " Hold on ; don't thump me against 
one of those sticks of yours ; they jar a fellow so ! " 

" Oh, it 's you, is it, grandfather ? Well, we 're 
only trying our new bows ; come in and sit down." 
So the old fellow bumped along in and took his 
place by the fire, for he did not care whether it 
was hot or cold. 

" Are the councillors here ? " asked he, wagging 
his head around. 

" Why, certainly," said the two boys ; " and now 
our council is so full we had better proceed to dis- 
cuss what we had better do." 

When the old Turtle discovered that the boys 
had been playing him a joke, he was vexed, but 
he did n't show it. " Amiwili here ? " asked he. 
" Tchukwe / We four will teach those Ha- 
wikuhkwe ! " 

" Yes, indeed ! " croaked the Rainbow-worm. 

" Well," said the boys, " at daybreak tomor- 
row morning, before it is light, we shall start for 
H awikuh-town. " 

" Very well," responded Amiwili. " Come to 
my place first, and let me know when you start." 



Revenge of the Two Brothers 33s 

" And," added Etawa, " come to my place next 
and let me know. When you boys get to Hawikuh 
and alarm the people, if they get too thick for you, 
come back to my house as fast as you can, and 
you, Matsailema, take me up on your back. Then 
you two run toward your other grandfather's house. 
I '11 show these Hawikuhkwe that I can waste life 
as much as anybody, even if I have no arrows to 
shoot at them." 

"Yes," added the Rainbow-worm, "and when 
you come up to my house, just run past me and I '11 
take care of the rest of them. I 'm made to use 
up life, I am," swaggered he. 

"And I," boasted the old Turtle. "Come, 
brother, let us be going, for we have a long way to 
travel, and our legs are short." So, after feasting, 
the two started away. 

As soon as they had gone, the two boys went to 
their corner and lay down to rest, first filling their 
quivers with arrows, and laying their water-shield ^ 
out on the floor. They were presently quiet, and 
then beofan to snore ; so their old orrandmother 
went into another room and brouQfht out a new 
bowl which she filled with water. Then she retired 
into the room again, and when she came out she 
was dressed in beautiful embroidered mantles and 



' The kia-al-lan, or water-shield, is represented in modern times by 
a beautiful netting of white cotton threads strung on a round hoop, with a 
downy plume suspended from the center. This, with the dealings of 
Ahaiyiita and Matsailema with arrows of lightning, and the simile of their 
father the Sun, leaves little doubt that they are, in common with mystic 
creations of the Aryans, representatives of natural phenomena or their 
agents. This is even more closely suggested by the sequel. 



334 Zuni Folk Tales 

skirts and decorated with precious ornaments of 
shell and turquoise. 

The noise she made awoke Ahaiyiita, who 
punched his younger brother, and said : " Wake 
up, wake up ! Here 's grandmother dressed as 
though she were going to a dance ! " 

Then the younger brother raised his voice to a 
sharp whisper (they knew perfectly well what the 
old grandmother was intending to do) : " What 
for ? " 

" Here ! " said the old woman, turning toward 
the bed. " Go to sleep ! What are you never-weary 
little beasts doing now ? For shame ! You pre- 
tend you are going out to war tomorrow ! " 

" Why are you dressed so, grandmother ? " 
ventured the younger. 

" What should I be dressed for but to make 
medicine for you two ? Now, mind, you must not 
watch me. I shall make the medicine and place 
it in these two cane tubes, and you must shoot 
them into the middle of the plaza of Hawikuh as 
soon as you get there. That will make the people 
like women ; for the canes will break and make 
the medicine fly about like mist, and whomsoever 
gets his skin wet by it, will become no more of a 
warrior than a woman. Go to sleep, I say, you 
pests ! " 

But the boys had no intention of sleeping. To 
be sure, they stretched themselves out and slyly 
laid their arms across their eyes. The old grand- 
mother did not notice this at first. She began to 
wash her arms in the bowl of water. Then she 



Revenge of the Two Brothers 335 

rubbed them so hard that \\\^ ycpjia (" substance of 
flesh ") was rolled off in little lumps and fell into 
the water. This she began to mix carefully with 
the water, when Ahaiyiita whispered to the other : 
" Brother younger, just look ! Old grandmother's 
arms look as bright as a young girl's. Look, 
look ! " said he, still louder, for the other had 
already begun to giggle ; but when the old woman 
turned to talk sharply at them, they turned over, 
the rascals, as dutifully as though they had never 
joked with their poor old grandmother. Soon 
they were indeed sleeping. 

Then the grandmother proceeded to fill the 
canes with the fluid^ and then she fastened these 
to the ends of two good arrows. " There ! " she 
exclaimed, with a sigh ; and after she had chanted 
an incantation over the canes, she laid some food 
near the boys and softly left the room, to sleep. 

The boys never minded the things they had to 
do in the morning, but slept soundly until the 
coming of day, when they arose, took their bows 
and quivers, knives, war-clubs, arrows, and water- 
shield, and quietly stole away. 

It was not long ere they approached the house 
of Amiwili. He was fairly gorging the leaves of 
all the lizard plants he could lay hold of, and 
already looked so full that he must have felt like 
a ball. But he munched away so busily that he 
would n't have looked at the boys had it been light 
enough. 

" How did our grandfather come unto the 
morning ? " asked they. 



^T,6 Zuni Folk Tales 

'' Thluathld ! '' ("Get out!") was all the old 
Worm vouchsafed them between his cuds ; and 
they sped on. 

Soon they reached the home of the old Turtle. 
This old grandfather was more leisurely. " You 
will return at the height of the sun," said he, 
" Now mind what I told you last night. I '11 
wait right here on the bank for you." 

" Very well," laughed the boys, for little they 
cared that they were on the war-path. 

By-and-by they neared the town of Hawikuh. 
It was twilight, for the morning star was high. 
The boys sat down a moment and sang an incan- 
tation, — the same our fathers and children, the 
Apithlan SJiiwani, sing now. Then the younger 
brother ran round the pueblo to scout. Two or 
three people were getting up, as he could see, for 
nearly everybody slept on the roofs, it was so 
warm. 

'' Iwolohkia-a-a ! '' cried he, at the top of his 
voice ; and as the people were rousing he drew one 
of the cane arrows full length in his bow, and so 
straight and high did he shoot, that it fell thl-i-i-i-i I 
into the middle of the plaza, splitting and scatter- 
ing medicine-water in every direction, so that the 
people all exclaimed, as they rubbed their eyes : 
" Ho ! it is raining, and yet the sky is clear ! And 
did n't some one cry ' Murder, murder ! ' " 

When Ahaiyiita's arrow struck, it scattered 
more medicine-water upon them, until they thought 
they must be dreaming of rain ; but just then 
Matsailema shouted, '' Ho-o-o ! Murder!" again, 



Revenge of the Two Brothers 337 

and everybody started to hunt bows and arrows. 
Then the boy ran to the hiding-place of his brother 
in the grass on the trail toward the wood border, 
and just as he got there, some of the people who 
were shouting and gabbling to one another ran 
out to see him. 

" Ha ! " they shouted, " there they are, on the 
northern trail." 

So the Hawikuhkwe all poured down toward 
them, but when they arrived there they found no 
enemy. While the people were looking and run- 
ning about, tsok tsok, and tsok tsok, and tsok tsok^ 
the arrows of Ahaiyuta, and Matsailema struck 
the nearest ones, for they had crawled along the trail 
and were waiting in the grass. They never missed. 
Every man they struck fell, but many, many came 
on, and when these saw that there were only two, 
their faces were all the more to the front with 
haste. Still the two boys shot, shot, shot at them 
until many were killed or wounded before the re- 
mainder decided to flee. 

" Come, brother, my arrows are gone," said the 
younger brother. " Quick ! put on the water-shield, 
and let us be off ! " Now, the people were gaining 
on them faster and faster, but Ahaiyuta threw 
water like thick rain from his shield strapped over 
his back, so that the enemies' bow-strings loosened, 
and they had to stop to tighten them again and 
again. 

Whenever the Hawikuhkwe pressed them too 
closely, the water-shield sprinkled them so thor- 
oughly that when they nocked an arrow the sinew 



338 Zuni Folk Tales 

bow-string stretched like gum, and all they could 
do was to stop and tighten their bow-strings again. 
Thus the boys were able to near the home of their 
grandfather, the big Turtle, now and then shooting 
at the leaders with their warring arrows and rarely 
missing their marks. 

But as they came near, the people were gather- 
ing more and more thickly in their rear, so that 
Matsailema barely had time to take his grandfather 
— who was waiting on the bank of the pond — 
upon his back. 

" Now, run you along in front and we '11 follow 
behind," said old Etawa, as he put one paw over 
the left shoulder and the other under the right 
arm, and clasped his legs tightly around the loins 
of Matsailema so as to hug close to his back. 

"Grandfather, kiitchi ! You are as heavy as a 
rock and as hard as one, too," said the younger 
brother. " How can I dodge those stinging 
beasts ? " 

" That 's all the better for you," said the old 
Turtle, loosening his grip a little ; " take it easy." 

" They 're coming ! They 're coming ! " shouted 
Ahaiyiita from ahead. " Hurry, hurry, brother 
younger ; hurry ! " But Matsailema could n't get 
along any faster than he could. 

Presently the old Turtle glanced around and 
saw that the people were gaining on them and 
already drawing their bows. " Duck your head 
down and never mind them. Now, you '11 see 
what I can do !" said he, pulling into his shell. 

Tkle-e-e, thle-thle-thle-e-e^ rattled the arrows 



Revenge of the Two Brothers 339 

ap-ainst old Etawa's shell, and the warriors were 
already shouting, " Ho-o-o-azuiycishikia ! " — which 
was their cry of victory, — when they began to cry 
out in other tones, for tsuiya / their arrows glanced 
from old Turtle's shell and struck themselves, so 
that they dropped in every direction. "Terror 
and blood ! but those beings can shoot fast and 
hard ! " shouted they to one another, but they kept 
pelting away harder and faster, only to hit one 
another with the glancing arrows. 

" Hold ! " cried one in advance of the others. 
" Head them off ! Head them off ! We 're only 
shooting ourselves against that black shield of 
theirs, and the other loosens our bow-strings." 

But just then Ahaiyiita reached the home of his 
other grandfather, Amiwili. Behold ! he was all 
swollen up with food and could hardly move — only 
wae his head back and forth. 

"Are you coming?" groaned the old fellow. 
" Quick, get out of the way, all of you ! Quick, 
quick ! " 

Ahaiyuta jumped out of the way just as Mat- 
sailema cried out : " Ha hua / I can run no farther ; 
I must drop you, grandfather," — but he saw Ahai- 
yiita jump to one side, so he followed, too. 

Old Amiwili reared himself and, opening his 
mouth, waak f week ! right and left he threw the 
lizard leaves he had been eating, until the Hawikuh- 
kwe were blinded and suffocated by them, and, drop- 
ping their bows and weapons, began to clutch their 
eyes from blindness and pain. And old Amiwili 
couo-hed and couo-hed till he had blown nearly all 



340 Zuni Folk Tales 

his substance away, and there was nothing left 
of him but a worm no bigger than your middle 
finger. 

" Drop me and make your winnings," cried the 
old Turtle. " I guess I can take care of myself," 
he chuckled from the inside of his shell ; and it 
was short work for the boys to cast down all their 
enemies whom Amiwili had blown upon, and the 
others fled terrified toward Hawikuh. 

" Ha, ha ! " laughed the two boys as they began 
to take off the scalps of the Hawikuhkwe. " These 
caps are better than half a flock of Turkeys." 

" Who '11 proclaim our victory to our people .? " 
said they, suddenly stopping ; and one would have 
thought they belonged to a big village and a great 
tribe instead of to a lone house on top of Twin 
Mountain, with a single old granny in it ; but then 
that was their way, you know. 

"I will! I will!" cried the old Turtle, as he 
waddled off toward Twin Mountain and left the 
boys to skin scalps. 

When he came to the top of the low hill south 
of Master Canon, he stuck a stick up in the air and 
shouted. 

'' Hoo-o ! Hawanawi-i-i-i ! '' which is the shout of 
victory ; and, not seeing the old woman, he cried 
out two or three times. 

'' Hoo-o ! Iwolohkia-a-a ! '' which, as you know, 
means " Murder ! Murder ! " The old woman heard 
it and was frightened. She threw an old robe 
over her shoulders, and, grabbing up the fire-poker, 
started down as fast as her limping old limbs 



Revenge of the Two Brothers 341 

would let her, and nearly tumbled over when she 
heard old Etawa shout again, " Iiuolohkia ! " 

" Ha ! " said she ; " I '11 teach the shameless 
Turkey killers, if I am an old woman ; " and she 
shook her fire-poker in the air until she came up 
to where the old Turtle was waitinof. 

Here, just as she came near, the old Turtle pre- 
tended not to see her, but stood up on his legs, 
and, holding his pole with one hand, cried out, 
" Hoo-o / HazL'anawi-i-i-i ! " which was the shout of 
victory, as I told you before. 

" What is it ? " cried the old woman, as she 
limped along up and said: ''Ah! ahif" ("My 
poor old legs ! ") 

" Victory ! " said the proud Turtle, scarcely 
deisfninof to look at her. -^ 

"Who has this day renewed himself? "she 
inquired. 

" Thy grandchildren," answered the old Turtle. 

" Have they won ? " asked the old woman, as 
she said : " Thanks this day ! " 

" Many caps," replied the Turtle. 

" Will they celebrate ? " 

"Yes." 

" Who will purify and pass them ? " asked the 
granny. 

" Why, you will." 

" Who will bathe the scalps ? " 

"Why, I will." 

' The ridiculousness of the dialogue which follows may readily be under- 
stood when it is explained that each office in the celebration of victory has 
to be performed by a distinct individual of specified clans according to 
the function. 



342 Zufii Folk Tales 

"Who will swing the scalps round the pueblo?" 

" Why, you will." 

" Who will adopt them ? " 

** Why, you will." 

" Who will bring out the feast ? " 

" Why, you will." 

•' Who will be the priest of initiation ?" 

" Why, I will." 

" Who will be the song-master? " 

" Why, I will." 

" Who will be the dancers ? " 

"Why, I will." 

" Who will draw the arrows and sacrifice them ?" 

" Why, I will." 

" Who will strive for the sacrificed arrows ? " 

" Why, I will." 

" Who will lead the dance of victory ?" 

" Why, I will." 

" Who will be the dancers ? " 

"Why, I will." 

" Who will go to get the women to join the 
dance ? " 

" Why, I will." 

"What women will dance?" 

" Why, you will." 

"Who will take them to preside at the feast 
of their relatives-in-law ? " 

" Why, you will." 

"Who will be their relatives-in-law?" 

" Why, you will." 

"Who will be the priests of their Father 
Society ? " 



Revenge of the Two Brothers 343 

" Why, I will." 

And they might have talked that way till sunset 
had not the voices of the two boys, singing the 
song of victor}^ been heard coming over the hill. 
There they were, coming with two great strings 
of scalps as big as a bunch of buckskins. 

"Oh! poor me! How shall I swing all those 
scalps round the pueblo?" groaned the poor old 
woman as she limped off to dress for the ceremony. 

" Why, swing them," answered the old Turtle, 
as he stretched himself up with the importance 
of being master of ceremonies. 

So the boys brought the scalps up and the old 
Turtle strung them thickly on a long pole. 

So day after day they danced and sang, to add 
strands to the width of the boys' badges. And 
the old Turtle was master-priest of ceremonies 
and people, low priest, song-master, and dancers ; 
sacrificer of arrows and striver after the arrows. 
He would beat the drum and sing a little, then 
run and dance out the measure ; but it was very 
hard work. 

And the old woman was mother of the children 
and sisters, and their clan, and somebody's else 
clan, matron of ceremonials, and maidens of cere- 
monials — all at the same time ; — but it was very 
hard work, consequently they did n't get along 
very well. 

That 's the reason why today we have so many 
song-masters and singers, dance leaders and dan- 
cers, priests and common people, father clans and 
mother clans, in the great Ceremony of Victory. 



344 Zuni Folk Tales 

Thus it happened with Ahaiyuta and Matsailema 
and their old grandmother, and their grandfathers 
the Rainbow-worm and the old Turtle. That is 
the reason why rainbow-worms are no bigger than 
your finger now, because their great grandfather 
blew all his substance away at the Hawikuhkwe. 
That 's the reason why the great Turtles in the 
far-away Waters of the World are so much bigger 
than their brothers and sisters here, and have 
so many marks on their shells, where the arrows 
glanced across the shield of their great grand- 
father. For old Etawa was so proud after he had 
been the great master of ceremonies that he 
despised his old pond, and went off to seek a new 
home in the Western Waters of the World, and 
his grandchildren never grew any bigger after 
he went away, and their descendants are just as 
small as they were. 

And thus shortens my story. 





Photo by A. C. Vroman 



THE PINNACLES OF THUNDER MOUNTAIN 



THE YOUNG SWIFT -RUNNER WHO 

WAS STRH^PED OF HIS CLOTHING 

BY THE AGED TARANTULA 

ALONG, long time ago, in K'iakime, there 
lived a young man, the son of the priest-chief 
of the town. It was this young man's custom to 
dress himself as for a dance and run entirely 
around Thunder Mountain each morning before 
the sun rose, before making his prayers. He was 
a handsome young man, and his costume was 
beautiful to behold. 

Now, below the two broad columns of rock which 
stand at the southeastern end of Thunder Moun- 
tain, and which are called Ak'yapaatch-ella, — 
below these, in the base of the mountain, an old, 
old Tarantula had his den. Of a morning, as the 
young man in his beautiful dress sped by, the old 
Tarantula heard the horn-bells which were attached 
to his belt and saw him as he passed, this young 
Swift-runner, and he thought to himself : " Ah, ha ! 
Now if I could only get his fine apparel away from 
him, what luck it would be for me ! I will wait 
for him the next time." 

Early the next morning, just as the sun peeped 
over the lid of the world, sure enough the old 
Tarantula heard the horn-bells, and, thrusting his 
head out of his den, waited. As the young man 
approached, he called out to him : " Hold, my 
young friend ; come here ! " 

345 



34^ Zuni Folk Tales 

" What for ? " replied the youth. " I am in a 
great hurry." 

" Never mind that ; come here," said the old 
Tarantula. 

" What is it ? Why do you detain me ? " re- 
joined the youth. 

"It is for this reason," said the old Tarantula. 
" Would n't you like to look at yourself today ? — 
for if you would, I can show you how." 

" How ?" asked the young man. " Make haste, 
for I am in a hurry." 

" Well, in this way," was the reply. " Take off 
your clothing, all of it ; then I will take off mine. 
You place yours in a heap before me ; I will place 
mine in a heap before you. Then I will put on 
your apparel as you wear it, and then you will see 
what a handsome fellow you are." 

The young man thought about it and concluded 
that it would be a very good thing to do. So he 
began drawing off his clothing — his beautiful 
painted moccasins, red and green ; his fine white 
leggings, knitted with cunning stitches and fringed 
down the front, like the leggings worn by the 
Master of the Dances at New Year ; his delicately- 
embroidered skirt, and mantle, and coat, all of 
white cotton and marked with figures in many 
colors ; his heavy anklets of sacred white shell ; 
his blue turquoise earrings, like the sky in blue- 
ness, and so long that they swept his shoulders ; 
his plaited headband of many-colored fibers, and 
his bunch of blue, red, and yellow macaw feathers, 
which he wore in his hair-knot at the back of his 



The Young Swift-Runner 347 

head, — all these things, one after another, he took 
off and laid before the ugly old Tarantula. 

Then that woolly, hairy, clammy creature hauled 
off his clothing — gray-blue, ugly, and coarse ; — 
gray-blue leggings, gray-blue skirt and breech-cloth, 
gray-blue coat and mantle, nothing but gray-blue, 
woolly and hairy, ugly and dirty. When the old 
Tarantula had done this, he began to put on the 
handsome garments that the young man had 
placed before him, and, after he had dressed him- 
self in these, he perched himself up on his crooked 
hind-legs, and said : " Look at me, now. How do 
I look?" 

"Well, so far as the clothing is concerned, hand- 
some," said the young man. 

"Just wait till I get a little farther off," said 
the old Tarantula, and he straightened himself up 
and walked backward toward the door of his den. 
Presently he stopped and stood still, and said: 
" How do I look now ? " 

" Handsomer," said the young man. 

"Just wait till I get a little farther" ; and again 
he walked backward, which is a way Tarantulas 
have, and stood up straight, and said : " How do 
I look now ? " 

" Handsomer still," said the young man. 

"Ah, ha! Just wait till I get a little farther" ; 
— and now he backed to the very door of his den, 
and stood upon the lip of the entrance, and said : 
" Now, then, how do I look?" 

" Perfectly handsome," said the young man. 

" Ah, ha ! " chuckled the old Tarantula, and he 



34^ Zuni Folk Tales 

turned himself around and plunged headforemost 
into his hole. 

" Out upon him ! " cried the young man, as he 
stood there with his head bowed, and thinking. 
" Out upon the old rascal ! That is the trick he 
serves me, is it ? Fearful ! " said he. " What 
shall I do now ? I can 't go home naked, or half 
naked. Well, but I suppose I will have to," said 
he to himself. And, bending down, he reached 
for the hairy gray-blue breech-cloth that had been 
left there by the old Tarantula, and the skirt, and 
put them on, and took his way swiftly home- 
ward. 

When he reached home the sun was high, which 
never had happened before, so that the old people 
had been thinking, " Surely, something must have 
happened to our young man that he comes not as 
early as usual. " And when he came, they said : 
"What has happened that has detained you so?" 

"Ha!" replied the youth; "the old Tarantula 
that lives under the Ak'yapaatch-ella has stripped 
me of my garments, and with them has run away 
into his hole." 

" We thought somethinof of the kind must have 
happened," said his old father. 

" Send for your warrior priest," said the other 
old ones. " Let us see what he thinks about this, 
and what shall be done." 

So the priest-chief sent for his warrior priest, 
and when the latter had come, he asked : " Why is 
it that you have sent for me ? " 

" True, we have sent for you," said the father, 



The Young Swift-Runner 349 

" because Old Tarantula has stripped my son of his 
handsome apparel, which is sacred and precious, 
and we therefore hold it a great loss to him and 
us. How do you think we can recover what has 
been stolen ? " 

The warrior priest thought a moment, and said : 
" I should think we would have to dig him out, for 
it is n't likely he will show himself far from his den 
again." 

So the warrior priest went out on the tops of the 
houses, and called to his people : 

" I instruct ye this day, oh, my people and chil- 
dren ! Listen to my instruction ! Our child, in 
running to and from his prayers this very morning 
was intercepted by Old Tarantula, who, through 
his skill and cunning, succeeded in stripping our 
child of his handsome apparel. Therefore, I in- 
struct ye, make haste ! Gather togfether dieeingr. 
sticks and hoes ; let us all go and dig out the old 
villain ; let the whole town turn out, women as well 
as men and children. My daughters, ye women of 
this town, take with ye basket-bowls and baskets 
and other things wherewith ye gather material for 
plaster, with which to convey away the sand and 
earth that is dug up by the men. Thus much I 
instruct ye ! Make haste all ! " Whereupon he 
descended, and, after eating, led the way toward 
the den of Old Tarantula. 

When the people had also eaten and followed, 
they began to work swiftly at tunnelling into the 
hole of the Tarantula ; and thus they worked and 
worked from morning till night, but did not over- 



350 Zuni Folk Tales 

take him, until at last they reached the solid rock 
foundations of the mountain. They had filled 
their baskets and basket-bowls with the sand, and 
cast it behind them, and others had cast it behind 
them, and so on until a large hillock of earth 
and sand had been raised, but still they had not 
overtaken Old Tarantula. Now, when they had 
reached the solid rock foundations of the moun- 
tain, they saw that the hole yawned like a cave 
before them, and that it was needless to follow 
farther. They gave up in despair, saying : " What 
more can we do ? Let us go home. Let us give 
it up, since we must." And they took their ways 
homeward. 

Now, in the evening the old ones of the town 
were very thoughtful, and they gathered together 
and talked the matter over, and finally it was sug- 
gested by someone in answer to the query, " What 
can we do to recover our son's lost garments ? " 
"Suppose that we send for the Great Kingfisher? 
He is wise, crafty, swift of flight ; he dashes him- 
self from on high, even into the water, and takes 
him therefrom whatsoever he will, swift though it 
be, without fail. Suppose we send for him, our 
grandfather ? " 

" Ah, ha ! that 's it," replied others. " Send for 
him straightway." 

So the master warrior priest called to Young 
Swift-runner, and sent him to the Hill of the 
Great Kingfisher. 

" What is it ?" asked Kingfisher, when he heard 
someone at the entrance of his house. 



The Young Swift-Runner 351 

" Come quickly ! In council the old ones of our 
town await you," said the young man. 

So Great Kingfisher followed, and, arriving at 
the council, greeted them and asked : " What is it 
you would have of me ? " 

Said they : " Old Tarantula has stripped our 
young man. Swift-runner, of his beautiful gar- 
ments, and how to recover them we know not. 
We have dug away the den, even to the founda- 
tion of the mountain, but beyond this it extends. 
What to do we know not. So we have sent for 
you, knowing your power and ability to quickly 
snatch even from under the waters whatsoever 
you will." 

" Ah, ha ! I will take a step toward this thing," 
said Great Kingfisher, " but it is a difficult task 
you place before me. Old Tarantula is exceedingly 
cunning and very keen of sight, moreover. I will, 
however, take a step, and if I have good luck will 
be able to bring back to you something of what he 
has stolen." He then made his adieu, and went 
back to his house at the Hill of the Kingfisher. 

Very early the next morning he took his swift 
way to the Ak'yapaatch-ella, and there where the 
columns of rock fork he lay himself down between 
them, like a little finger between two other fingers, 
merely thrusting his beak over the edge, and look- 
ing at the opening of Old Tarantula's hole. 

The plumes of sunlight were but barely gleam- 
ing on the farther edge of the world when Old 
Tarantula cast his eyes just out of the edge of his 
hole, and looked all around. Eyes like many eyes 



352 Zuni Folk Tales 

had he, wonderfully sharp and clear. With these 
he looked all around, as might have been expected. 
He discovered Great Kingfisher, little-so-ever of 
him showing, and called out : " Heee! Woloi weee! " 
(" Ho, ho ! skulker skulking. Ho, ho ! skulker 
skulking!") Instantly Great Kingfisher shook 
out his wings, and tJiluooo, descended like a breath 
of strong wind ; and thlu-u-u-kwa, finished his flight 
like a loosed arrow ; but he merely brushed the 
tips of the plumes in Old Tarantula's head-knot, 
and the creature doubled himself up and headfore- 
most plunged into his hole. Once in, "Ha, ha!" 
said he. " Good for him ! Good ! Good ! Let 's 
have a dance, and sing," said he, talking to himself ; 
and thereupon he pranced up, jigged about his dark, 
deep room, singing this song : 

" Ohatchik'ya ti Tdkwh, 
At yaa Tdkwa ! 
Ohatchik'ya Hi Tdkwa, 
Ohaichik'ya Hi Tdkwa ! 
Ai yaa Tdkwa I 
Ai yaa Tdkiva ! 

Tdkwa, Tdkwa ! " 

Thus singing, he danced, — surely a song that 
nobody but he could dance to, if it be a song, but 
he danced to it. And when he had finished jigging 
about, he looked at his fluttering garments, and 
said : " Ha, ha ! Just look at my fine dress ! Now 
am I not handsome ? I tell you I am handsome ! 
Now, let 's have another dance !" And again he 
sang at the top of his wheezing voice, and pranced 



The Young Swift-Runner 353 

round on his crooked hind legs, with his fine gar- 
ments fluttering. 

But Great Kingfisher, with wings drooping and 
beak gaped down at the corners, — as though being 
hungry he had tried to catch a fish and had n't 
caught him, — took his way back to the council ; 
and he said to the people there : " No use ! I failed 
utterly. As I said before, he is a crafty, keen- 
sighted old fellow. What more have I to say ? " 
He made his adieus, and took his way back to the 
Hill of the Kingfisher. 

Again the people talked with one another and 
considered ; and at last said some : " Inasmuch as 
he has failed, let us send for our grandfather. 
Great Eagle. He, of all living creatures with 
wings, is swiftest and keenest of sight, strong of 
grasp, hooked of beak, whatever getting holding, 
and orettingr whatever he will." 

They sent for the Eagle. He came, and when 
made acquainted with their wishes turned quickly, 
and said, in bidding them adieu : " I think that 
possibly I can succeed, though surely, as my 
brother has said, Old Tarantula is a crafty, keen- 
sighted creature. I will do my best." 

Early the next morning he took his way, before 
sunrise, to the peak of the Mountain of the Badgers, 
a long distance away from Ak'yapaatch-ella, but 
still as no distance to the Eagle. There he stood, 
with his head raised to the winds, turning first one 
eye, then the other, on the entrance of Old Taran- 
tula's den, until Old Tarantula again thrust out his 
woolly nose, as might have been expected. He 



354 Zuni Folk Tales 

discovered the Eagle, and was just shouting " Ho, 
skulker, skulking ! " when the Eagle swept like a 
singing stone loosed from the sling straight at the 
head of Old Tarantula, But his wings hissed and 
buzzed past the hole harmlessly, and his crooked 
talons reached down into the dark, clutching noth- 
ing save one of the plumes in Old Tarantula's 
head-dress. Even this he failed to bring away. 

The Old Tarantula tumbled headlong into his 
lower room, and exclaimed : "Ha, ha ! Goodness 
save us ! What a startling he gave me ! But he 
did n't get me ! No, he did n't get me ! Let 's 
have a dance ! Jig it down ! What a fine fellow I 
am ! " And he began to prance about, and jig and 
sing as he had sung before : 

" Ohatchik'ya ti Tdkwa, 

Ai yaa Tdkiva ! 

Ohatchik'ya Hi Tdkwd, 

Ohatchik'ya Hi Tdktva ! 

Ai yaa Tdk7ud! 

Ai yaa Takwd ! 

Tdkwa ^ Tdkwd ! " 

As soon as he paused for breath, he glanced 
askance at his fluttering bright garments and cried 
out : " Ho ! what a handsome fellow I am ! How 
finely dressed I am ! Let 's have another dance ! " 
And again he danced and sang, all by himself, ad- 
miring himself, answering his own questions, and 
watching his own movements. But Great Eagle, 
crest-fallen and shame-smitten, took his way to the 
place of the council, reported his failure, and made 
his adieu. 



The Young Swift-Runner 355 

Then again the people considered, and the old 
ones decided to send for Hatchutsanona (the Lesser 
Falcon), whose plumage is hard and smooth and 
speckled, gray and brown, like the rocks and sage- 
brush, and who, being swift as the Kingfisher, and 
strong as the Eagle, and small, is not only able to 
fly where other birds fly, but can penetrate the 
closest thicket when seeking his prey, for trimmed 
he is like a well-feathered arrow. They sent for 
him ; he came and, being made acquainted with 
the facts of the case, said he could but try, though 
he modestly afifirmed that when his elder brothers, 
Great Kingfisher and Great Eagle, had made such 
efforts, it were well-nigh needless for him to try, 
and repeated what they had said of the cunning and 
keenness of sight of Old Tarantula. 

But he went early the next morning, and placed 
himself on the very edge of the high cliff over- 
hanging the columns of rock and looking into the 
den of Old Tarantula. There, when the sun rose, 
you could scarcely have seen him, even though near 
you might have been, for his coat of gray and 
brown was like the rocks and dry grass around him, 
and he lay very close to the ground, like an autumn 
leaf beaten down by the rain. By-and-by Old Ta- 
rantula thrust out his rugged face, and turned his 
eyes in every direction, up and down ; then twisted 
his head from side to side. He saw nothing. He 
had even poked his head entirely out of his hole, 
and his shoulders were just visible, when Lesser 
Falcon bestirred himself, and Old Tarantula, 
alas ! saw him ; not in time to wholly save himself, 



35^ Zuni Folk Tales 

however, for Lesser Falcon, with a sweep of his 
wings like the swirl of a snowdrift, shot into the 
mouth of Old Tarantula's den, grasped at his head, 
and brought away with him the macaw plumes of 
the youth's head-dress. 

Down into his den tumbled Old Tarantula, and 
he sat down and bent himself double with fright 
and chagrin. He wagged his head to and fro, and 
sighed : " Alas ! alas ! my beautiful head-dress ; 
the skulking wretch ! My beautiful head-dress ; he 
has taken it from me. What is the use of bother- 
ing about a miserable bunch of macaw feathers, 
anyway ? They get dirty, they get bent and 
broken, moths eat them, they change their color ; 
what is the use of troubling myself about a worth- 
less thing like that ? Have n't I still the finest 
costume in the valley ? — handsome leggings and 
embroidered skirt and mantle, sleeves as pretty as 
flowers in summer, necklaces worth fifty head- 
plumes, and earrings worth a handful of such 
necklaces ? Ha, ha ! let him away with the old 
head-plumes ! Let 's have a dance, and dance her 
down, old fellow ! " said he, talking to himself. 
And again he skipped about, and sang his tune- 
less song : 

" Ohatchik'ya ti Tdkivh^ 
At yaa Tdkwa ! 
Ohatchik'ya lit Tdkiva, 
Ohatchik'ya Hi Tdkwa ! 
Ai yaa Tdkwa, 
Ai yaa Tdkwa. 

Tdkwa, Tdkwa I " 



The Young Swift-Runner 357 

He admired himself as much as before. " For- 
sooth," said he ; " I could not have seen the head- 
plume for I would have worn it in the back of 
my head." 

The Lesser Falcon, cursing at his half-luck, took 
his way back to the council, and, casting the head- 
plume at the feet of the old men, said : " Alas ! 
my fathers ; this is the best I could do, for before 
I had fairly taken my flight. Old Tarantula dis- 
covered me and made into his den. But this I 
got, and I bring it to you. May others succeed 
better ! " 

" Thou hast succeeded exceeding well, for most 
precious are these plumes from Summerland," said 
the old priest. " Thanks be to you, this day, my 
grandfather ! " And the Lesser Falcon took his 
way to the thickets and hillsides. 

Then the people said to one another : " What 
more is there to be done ? We must even have 
recourse to the Gods, it seems." And they called 
Swift-runner and said to him : " Of the feathered 
creatures we have chosen the wisest and swiftest 
and strongest to aid us ; yet they have failed 
mainly. Therefore, we would even send you to the 
Gods, for your performance of duty to them has 
been faithful from morning to morning." So they 
instructed him to climb to the top of Thunder 
Mountain and visit the home of the two War- 
gods, Ahaiyuta and Matsailema, for in those days 
they still dwelt on the top of Thunder Mountain 
with their old grandmother, at the Middle Place 
of Sacrifice. 



358 Zuni Folk Tales 

The priests in the town prepared sacrificial 
plumes and divided their treasures for the Gods, 
and again calling the young man, presented them 
to him as their messenger, bidding him bear to 
the Gods their crreetinofs. 

On the morning following, he climbed the steep 
path and soon neared the dwelling of the Gods 
and their grandmother. She was on the roof of 
the house, while the two bad boys — always out of 
the way when wanted, and never ceasing to play 
their pranks, as was their little way, you know — 
were down in the lower rooms. The old grand- 
mother bade the youth to enter, and called out to 
her grandchildren, the two Gods : " My children, 
come up, both of you, quickly. A young man has 
arrived to see you, bringing greetings." So they 
cast off their playful behavior, and with great gravity 
came into the room, and looking up to the tall 
youth, said : " Thou hast come. May it be happily. 
Sit down. What is it that thou wouldst have ? 
because for nothinof no stranger comes to the 
house of another." 

" It is true, this which you say," said the youth 
reverently, breathing on his hands. " O ye, my 
fathers ! I brine ereetines from the fathers of 
my town below the mountain, and offerings from 
them." 

" It is well thus, my child," replied the Gods. 

" And I bring also my burden of trouble, that I 
may listen to your counsel, and perchance implore 
your aid," said the youth. 

" What is it ?" said the Two ; and they listened. 



The Young Swift-Runner 359 

Then the youth related his misfortune, telling 
how he had been stripped of his clothing by Old 
Tarantula ; how the old ones, gathered in council, 
had sought the aid, one after another, of the 
wisest and swiftest of feathered beings, but with 
little success ; how they had at last counselled his 
coming to them, the fathers of the people in times 
of difficulty and strife. 

" Grandmother ! " shouted the younger brother 
War-god. " Make haste ! Make haste, grand- 
mother ! Bestir yourself ! Grind flour for us. 
Let it be rock flour ! " 

The old grandmother gathered some white cal- 
careous sandstone called ketchipawe. She broke 
those rocks into fragments and ground them into 
meal ; then reduced them on a finer stone to soft, 
impalpable powder. She made dough of this with 
water, and the two Gods, with wonderful skill, 
molded this dough, as it hardened, into figures 
of elk-kind, — two deer and two antelope images 
they made. When they had finished these, they 
placed them before the youth, and said : " Take 
these and stand them on the sacrificial rock-shelf 
or terrace on the southern side of our mountain, 
with prayer to the gods over them. Return to 
your home, and tell the old ones what we have 
directed you to do. Tell them also where we 
said you should place these beings, for such they 
will become upon the rock-shelf ; and you should 
go to greet them in the morning and guide them 
with you toward the den of Old Tarantula, — Old 
Tarantula is very fond of hunting ; nothing is so 



360 Zuni Folk Tales 

pleasing to him as to kill anything, — that thereby 
he may be tempted forth from his hiding-place in 
his den." 

The youth did as he was directed, and when he 
had placed the figures of the deer and the antelope 
in a row on the shelf, and reached home, he in- 
formed the old ones of the word that had been 
sent to them. 

His father, the old priest-chief, called the war- 
rior priest, and said to him : " It may be possible 
that Old Tarantula will be tempted forth from his 
den tomorrow. Would it not be well for us to 
take the war-path against him ? " 

" It would, indeed, be well," said the warrior 
priest. And the priest-chief went to the house-top 
and called to the people, saying : 

** O, ye, my people and children, I instruct ye 
today ! Let the young men and the warriors 
gather and prepare as for war. By means of the 
sacred images which have been made by the Two 
Beloved for our son. Swift-runner, it may be that 
we shall succeed in tempting Old Tarantula forth 
from his den tomorrow. Let us be prepared to 
capture him. Make haste ! Make ready ! Thus 
much I instruct ye." 

In great haste, as if under the influence of joy- 
ful tidings indeed, the people prepared for war, 
gathered together in great numbers, testing the 
strength of their bows, and with much racket issued 
forth from the town under Thunder Mountain, 
spreading over all the foot-hills. And toward day- 
light the youth alone took his way toward the sac- 



The Young Swift-Runner 361 

rificial rock-shelf on the side of the mountain. 
When he arrived there, behold ! the two Antelopes 
and the two Deer were tamely walking about, 
cropping the grass and tender leaves, and as he 
approached, they said : " So, here you are." 

" Now, this day, behold, my children ! " said he 
in his prayer. " Even for the reason that we have 
made ye beings, follow my instructions, oh, do ! 
Most wickedly and shamefully has Old Tarantula, 
living below Ak'yapaatch-ella, robbed me of my 
sacred fine apparel. I therefore call ye to aid me. 
Go ye now toward his home, that he may be 
tempted forth by the sight of ye." 

Obediently the Deer and Antelope took their way 
down the sloping sides of the foot-hills toward Old 
Tarantula's den. As they neared the den the 
youth called out from one of the valleys below, 
'' Hu-2L-2L-u-u-2i ! Hasten! There go some deer 
and antelope ! Whoever may be near them, under- 
stand, there go some deer and antelope ! " 

Old Tarantula was talking to himself, as usual, 
down in his inner room. He heard the faint sound. 
" Ha!" cried he, "what is this humming? Some- 
body calling, no doubt." He skipped out toward 
the doorway just as the young man called the 
second time. " Ah, ha ! " said he. " He says deer 
are coming, does n't he ? Let us see." And 
presently, when the young man called the third 
time, he exclaimed : " That 's it ! that is what he is 
calling out. Now for a hunt ! I might as well get 
them as anyone else." 

He caught up his bow, slipped the noose over 



362 Zuni Folk Tales 

the head of it, twanged the string, and started. 
But just as he was going out of his hole, he said to 
himself : " Good daylight ! this never will do ; they 
will be after me if I go out. Oh, pshaw! Non- 
sense ! they will do nothing of the kind. What 
does it matter? Haven't I bow and arrows with 
me?" He leaped out of his hole and started off 
toward the Deer. As he gained an eminence, he 
cried : " Ah, ha ! sure enough, there they come ! " 
Indeed, he was telling the truth. The Deer still 
approached, and when the first one came near he 
drew an arrow strongly and let fly. One of them 
dropped at once. " Ah, ha ! " cried he, " who says I 
am not a good hunter ? " He whipped out another 
arrow, and fired at the second Deer, w^hich dropped 
where it had stood. With more exclamations of de- 
light, he shot at the Antelope following, which fell ; 
and then at the last one, which fell as the others had. 
" Now," said he, " I suppose I might as well take 
my meat home. Fine game I have bagged today." 
He untied the strap which he had brought along 
and tied together the legs of the first deer he had 
shot. He stooped down, raised the deer, knelt on 
the ground and drew the strap over his forehead, 
and was just about to rise with his burden and 
make off for his den when, klo-0-0-0-0 ! he fell 
down almost crushed under a mass of white rock. 
*' Goodness ! what 's this ? Mercy, but this is start- 
ling ! " He looked around, but he saw nothing of 
his game save a shapeless mass of white rock. 
'* Well, I will try this other one," said he to him- 
self. He had no sooner placed the other on his 



The Young Swift-Runner 363 

back than down it bore him, another mass of white 
rock ! " What can be tlie matter ? The devil must 
be to pay ! " said he. Then he tried the next, with 
no better success. " Well, there is one left, any- 
way," said he. He tied the feet of the last one 
together, and was about to place the strap over his 
forehead, when he heard a mighty and thundering 
tread and ereat shoutincr and a terrible noise alto- 
gether, for the people were already gathering about 
his den. He made for the mouth of it with all 
possible speed, but the people were there before 
him ; they closed in upon him, they clutched at his 
stolen garments, they pulled his earrings out of his 
ears, slitting his ears in doing so, until he put up 
his hands and cried : " Death and ashes ! Mercy ! 
Mercy ! You hurt ! You hurt ! Don't treat me 
so ! I '11 be good hereafter. I '11 take the clothing 
off and give it back to you without making the 
slightest trouble, if you will let me alone." But 
the people closed in still more angrily, and pulled 
him about, buffeted him, tore his clothing from 
him, until he was left nude and bruised and so 
maimed that he could hardly move. 

Then the old priests gathered around, and said 
one of them : " It will not be well if we let this 
beast go as he is ; he is too large, too powerful, 
and too crafty. He has but to think of destruc- 
tion ; forsooth, he destroys. He has but to think 
of over-reaching ; it is accomplished. It will not 
be well that he should q-q abroad thus. He must 
be roasted ; and thus only can we rid the world 
of him as he is." 



364 Zuni Folk Tales 

So the people assembled and heaped up great 
quantities of dry firewood ; and they drilled fire 
from a stick, and lighted the mass. Then they 
cast the struggling Tarantula amid the flames, and 
he squeaked and sizzled and hissed,' and swelled 
and swelled and swelled, until, with a terrific noise, 
he burst, and the fragments of his carcass were 
cast to the uttermost parts of the earth. These 
parts again took shape as beings not unlike Old 
Tarantula himself. 

Thus it was in the days of the ancients. And 
therefore today, though crooked are the legs of 
the tarantula, and his habit of progress backward, 
still he is distributed throughout the great world. 
Only he is very, very much smaller than was the 
Great Tarantula who lived below the two rocky 
columns of Thunder Mountain. 

Thus shortens my story. 



Atahsaia, the cannibal demon 

IN the days of the ancients, when the children 
of our forefathers hved in Heshokta (" Town of 
the CHffs "), there also lived two beautiful maidens, 
elder and younger, sisters one to the other, daugh- 
ters of a master-chief. 

One brieht morninor in summer-time, the elder 
sister called to the younger, " Hani! " 

" What sayest thou ? " said the hdni. 

" The day is bright and the water is warm. Let 
us go down to the pool and wash our clothes, that 
we may wear them as if new at the dance to come." 

"Ah, yes, sister elder," said the hdni; "but 
these are days when they say the shadows of the 
rocks and even the sage-bushes lodge unthinkable 
things, and cause those who walk alone to breathe 
hard with fear." 

" Shtchu ! " exclaimed the elder sister derisively. 
" Younger sisters always are as timid as younger 
brothers are bad-tempered." 

" Ah, well, then ; as you will, sister elder. I will 
not quarrel with your wish, but I fear to go." 

" Ymish ! Come along, then," said the elder 
sister ; whereupon they gathered their cotton man- 
tles and other garments into bundles, and, taking 
along a bag of yucca-root, or soap-weed, started 
together down the steep, crooked path to where 
the pool lay at the foot of the great mesa. 

Now, far above the Town of the Cliffs, among 

365 



3^6 Zuni Folk Tales 

the rocks of red-gray and yellow — red in the form 
of a bowlder-like mountain that looks like a frozen 
sand-bank — there is a deep cave. You have never 
seen it ? Well ! to this day it is called the " Cave 
of Atahsaia," and there, in the times I tell of, lived 
Atahsaia himself. Uhh ! what an ugly demon he 
was ! His body was as big as the biggest elk's, and 
his breast was shaggy with hair as stiff as porcu- 
pine-quills. His legs and arms were long and 
brawny, — all covered with speckled scales of black 
and white. His hair was coarse and snarly as a 
buffalo's mane, and his eyes were so big and glar- 
ing that they popped out of his head like skinned 
onions. His mouth stretched from one cheek to 
the other and was filled with crooked fangs as yel- 
low as thrown-away deer-bones. His lips were as 
red and puffy as peppers, and his face as wrinkled 
and rough as a piece of burnt buckskin. That 
was Atahsaia, who in the days of the ancients de- 
voured men and women for his meat, and the chil- 
dren of men for his sweet-bread. His weapons 
were terrible, too. His finger-nails were as long as 
the claws of a bear, and in his left hand he carried 
a bow made of the sapling of a mountain-oak, with 
two arrows ready drawn for use. And he was 
never seen without his great flint knife, as broad as 
a man's thigh and twice as long, which he bran- 
dished with his right hand and poked his hair back 
with, so that his grizzly fore-locks were covered with 
the blood of those he had slauQfhtered. He wore 
over his shoulders whole skins of the mountain 
lion and bear clasped with buttons of wood. 



Atahsaia the Cannibal Demon 367 

Now, although Atahsaia was ugly and could not 
speak without chattering his teeth, or laugh with- 
out barking like a wolf, he was a very polite 
demon. But, like many ugly and polite people 
nowadays, he was a great liar. 

Atahsaia that morning woke up and stuck his 
head out of his hole just as the two maidens went 
down to the spring. He caught sight of them 
while his eyes travelled below, and he chuckled. 
Then he muttered, as he gazed at them and saw 
how young and fine they were : '' Ahhali ! Yaa- 
tchi ! " (" Good lunch ! Two for a munch ! ") and 
howled his war-cry, " Ho-o-o-thlai-a ! " till Tesha- 
minkia, the Echo-god, shouted it to the maidens. 

" Oh ! " exclaimed the hd7ii, clutching the arm of 
her elder sister; "listen ! " 

" Ho-o-o-tJilai-a! " again roared the demon, and 
again Teshaminkia. 

" Oh, oh ! sister elder, what did I tell you ! 
Why did we come out today ! " and both ran away ; 
then stopped to listen. When they heard noth- 
ing more, they returned to the spring and went to 
washing their clothes on some flat stones. 

But Atahsaia grabbed up his weapons and be- 
gan to clamber down the mountain, muttering and 
chuckling to himself as he went : " Ahhali ! Yaa- 
tchi ! " (" Good lunch ! Two for a munch ! "). 

Around the corner of Great Mesa, on the high 
shelves of which stands the Town of the Cliffs, are 
two towering buttes called Kwilli-yallon (Twin 
Mountain). Far up on the top of this mountain 
there dwelt Ahaiyuta and Matsailema. 



368 Zuni Folk Tales 

You don't know who Ahaiyiita and Matsailema 
were ? Well, I will tell you. They were the twin 
children of the Sun-father and the Mother Waters 
of the World. Before men were born to the light, 
the Sun made love to the Waters of the World, 
and under his warm, bright glances, there were 
hatched out of a foam-cup on the face of the Great 
Ocean, which then covered the earth, two wonder- 
ful boys, whom men afterward named Ua nam Atch 
Piahk'oa (" The Beloved Two who Fell "). The 
Sun dried away the waters from the high-lands of 
earth and these Two then delivered men forth 
from the bowels of our Earth-mother, and guided 
them eastward toward the home of their father, the 
Sun. The time came, alas ! when war and many 
strange beings arose to destroy the children of 
earth, and then the eight Stern Beings changed the 
hearts of the twins to sawanikia, or the medicine of 
war. Thenceforth they were known as Ahaiyiita 
and Matsailema (" Our Beloved," the " Terrible 
Two," " Boy-gods of War "). 

Even though changed, they still guarded our 
ancients and guided them to the Middle of the 
World, where we now live. Gifted with hearts of 
the medicine of war, and with wisdom almost as 
great as the Sun-father's own, they became the in- 
vincible guardians of the Corn-people of Earth, 
and, with the rainbow for their weapon and thun- 
derbolts for their arrows, — swift lightning-shafts 
pointed with turquoise, — were the greatest warriors 
of all in the days of the new. When at last they 
had conquered most of the enemies of men, they 



Atahsaia the Cannibal Demon 369 



tauofht to a chosen few of their followers the sones, 
prayers, and orders of a society of warriors who 
should be called their children, the Priests^ of the 
Bow, and selecting from among them the two 
wisest, breathed into their nostrils (as they have 
since breathed into those of their successors) the 
sawanikia. Since then we make anew the sem- 
blance of their being and place them each year at 
midsun on the top of the Mountain of Thunder, 
and on the top of the Mountain of the Beloved, 
that they may know we remember them and that 
they may guard (as it was said in the days of the 
ancients they would guard) the Land of Zufli from 
sunrise to sunset and cut off the pathways of the 
enemy. 

Well, Ahaiyiita, who is called the elder brother, 
and Matsailema, who is called the younger, were 
living on the top of Twin Mountain with their old 
grandmother. 

Said the elder to the younger on this same morn- 
ing : " Brother, let us go out and hunt. It is a fine 
day. What say you ? " 

" My face is in front of me," said the younger, 
" and under a roof is no place for men," he added, 
as he put on his helmet of elk-hide and took a 
quiver of mountain-lion skin from an antler near 
the ladder. 

" Where are you two boys going now ? " shrieked 
the grandmother through a trap-door from below. 
" Don't you ever intend to stop worrying me by 

' Here and hereafter I use this term priest reluctantly, in lack of a better 
word, but in accordance with Webster's second definition. — F. H. C. 
24 



370 Zuni Folk Tales 

going abroad when even the spaces breed fear like 
thick war ? " 

" O grandmother," they laughed, as they tight- 
ened their bows and straightened their arrows 
before the fire, " never mind us ; we are only going 
out for a hunt," and before the old woman could 
climb up to stop them they were gaily skipping 
down the rocks toward the cliffs below. 

Suddenly the younger brother stopped. " Ahh ! " 
said he, " listen, brother ! It is the cry of Atahsaia, 
and the old wretch is surely abroad to cause tears ! " 

" Yes," replied the elder. " It is Atahsaia, and 
we must stop him ! Come on, come on ; quick ! " 

" Hold, brother, hold ! Stiffen your feet right 
here with patience. He is after the two maidens 
of Heshokta ! I saw them going to the spring as 
I came down. This day he must die. Is your 
face to the front ? " 

"It is ; come on," said the elder brother, starting 
forward. 

" Stiffen your feet with patience, I say," again 
exclaimed the younger brother. " Know you that 
the old demon comes up the pathway below here ? 
He will not hurt them until he gets them home. 
You know he is a great liar, and a great flatterer ; 
that is the way the old beast catches people. 
Now, if we wait here we will surely see them when 
they come up." 

So, after quarrelling a little, the elder brother 
consented to sit down on a rock which overlooked 
the pathway and was within bow-shot of the old 
demon's cave. 



Atahsaia, the Cannibal Demon 371 

Now, while the girls were washing, Atahsaia ran 
as fast as his old joints would let him until the two 
girls heard his mutterings and rattling weapons. 

" Something is coming, sister ! " cried the younger, 
and both ran toward the rocks to hide again, but 
they were too late. The old demon strode around 
by another way and suddenly, at a turn, came face 
to face with them, glaring with his bloodshot eyes 
and waving his great jagged flint knife. But as 
he neared them he lowered the knife and smiled, 
straightening himself up and approaching the 
frightened ones as gently as would a young man. 

The poor younger sister clung to the elder one, 
and sank moaning by her side, for the smile of 
Atahsaia was as fearful as the scowl of a triumphant 
enemy, or the laugh of a rattlesnake when he hears 
any old man tell a lie and thinks he will poison him 
for it. 

" Why do you run, and why do you weep so ? " 
asked the old demon. " I know you. I am ugly 
and old, my pretty maidens, but I am your grand- 
father and mean you no harm at all. I frightened 
you only because I felt certain you would run 
away from me if you could." 

" Ah ! " faltered the elder sister, immediately 
getting over her fright. " We did not know you 
and therefore we were frightened by you. Come, 
sister, come," said she to the younger. " Brighten 
your eyes and thoughts, for our grandfather will 
not hurt us. Don't you see ? " 

But the younger sister only shook her head and 
sobbed. Then the demon got angry. " What 



Zl'2. Zuni Folk Tales 

are you blubbering about ? " he roared, raising his 
knife and sweeping it wildly through the air. " Do 
you see this knife ? This day I will cut off the 
light of your life with it if you do not swallow 
your whimpers ! " 

" Get up, oh, do get up, ham / " whispered the 
elder sister, now again frightened herself. " Surely 
he will not cut us off just now, if we obey him ; 
and is it not well that even for a little time the 
light of life shine — though it shine through fear 
and sadness — than be cut off altogether ? For 
who knows where the trails tend that lead through 
the darkness of the night of death ? " 

You know, in the speech of the rulers of the 
world and of our ancients, ^ a man's light was 
cut off when his life was taken, and when he died 
he came to the dividing-place of life. 

The hdTii tried to rally herself and rose to her 
feet, but she still trembled. 

" Now, my pretty maidens, my own grand- 
daughters, even," said the old demon once more, 
as gently as at first, " I am most glad I found you. 
How good are the gods ! for I am a poor, lone old 
man. All my people are gone." (Here he sighed 
like the hiss of a wild-cat.) " Yonder above is 
my home" (pointing over his shoulder), "and as 
I am a great hunter, plenty of venison is baking 
in my rear room and more sweet-bread than I can 
eat. Lo ! it makes me homesick to eat alone, and 
when I saw you and saw how pretty and gentle 
you were, I thought that it might be you would 

' One of the figures of speech meaning the gods. 



Atahsaia, the Cannibal Demon 373 

throw the Hght of your favor on me, and go up 
to my house to share of my abundance and drink 
from my vessels. Besides, I am so old that only 
now and then can I get a full jar of water up to 
my house. So I came as fast as I could to ask 
you to return and eat with me." 

Reassured by his kind speech, the elder sister 
hastened to say : " Of course, we will go with our 
grandfather, and if that is all he may want of us, 
we can soon fill his water-jars, can't we, Iidni?" 

" You are a good girl," said the old demon to 
the one who had spoken ; then, glaring at the 
younger sister : " Bring that fool along with you 
and come up ; she will not come by herself ; she 
has more bashfulness than sense, and less sense 
than my knife, because that makes the world more 
wise by killing off fools." 

He led the way and the elder sister followed, 
dragging along the shrinking hcini. 

The old demon kept talking in a loud voice as 
they went up the pathway, telling all sorts of 
entertaining stories, until, as they neared the rocks 
where Ahaiyiita and Matsailema were waiting, the 
Two heard him and said to one another : " Ahh, 
they come ! " 

Then the elder brother jumped up and began 
to tighten his bow, but the younger brother 
muttered : " Sit down, won't you, you fool ! 
Atahsaia's ears are like bat-ears, only bigger. 
Wait now, till I say ready. You know he will not 
hurt the girls until he gets them out from his 
house. Look over there in front of his hole. Do 



374 Zuni Folk Tales 

you see the flat place that leads along to that deep 
chasm beyond ? " 

" Yes," replied the elder brother. " But what of 
that?" 

" What but that there he cuts the throats of his 
captives and casts their bones and heads into the 
depths of the chasm ! Do you see the notch in 
the stone ? That's where he lets their blood flow 
down, and for that reason no one ever discovers 
his tracks. Now, stiffen your feet with patience, I 
say, and we will see what to do when the time 
comes." 

Again they sat and waited. As the old demon 
and the girls passed along below, the elder brother 
again started and would have shot had not Mat- 
sailema held him back. " You fool of a brother 
elder, but not wiser, No ! Do you not know that 
your arrow is lightning and will kill the maidens as 
well as the monster ? " 

Finally, the demon reached the entrance to his 
cave, and, going in, asked the girls to follow him, 
laying out two slabs for them to sit on. " Now, 
sit down, my pretty girls, and I will soon get 
something for you to eat. You must be hungry." 
Going to the rear of the cave, he broke open a 
stone oven, and the steam which arose was cer- 
tainly delicious and meaty. Soon he brought out 
two great bowls, big enough to feed a whole dance. 
One contained meat, the other a mess resembling 
sweet-bread pudding. " Now, let us eat," said the 
demon, seating himself opposite, and at once div- 
ing his horny fingers and scaly hand half up to the 



Atahsaia, the Cannibal Demon 375 

wrist in the meat-broth. The elder sister began to 
take bits of the food to eat it, when the younger 
made a motion to her, and showed her with horror 
the bones of a little hand. The sweet-bread was 
the flesh and bones of little children. Then the 
two girls only pretended to eat, taking the food 
out and throwing it down by the side of the bowls. 
"Why don't you eat?" demanded the demon, 
cramming at the same time a huge mouthful of 
the meat, bones and all, into his wide throat. 
" We are eating," said one of the girls. 
" Then why do you throw my food away ?" 
" We are throwing away only the bones." 
" Well, the bones are the better part," retorted 
the demon, taking another huge mouthful, by way 
of example, big enough to make a grown man's 
meal. " Oh, yes ! " he added ; " I forgot that you 
had baby teeth." 

After the meal was finished, the old demon 
said : " Let us go out and sit down in the sun 
on my terrace. Perhaps, my pretty maidens, you 
will comb an old man's hair, for I have no one 
left to help me now," he sighed, pretending to be 
very sad. So, showing the girls where to sit down, 
without waiting for their assent he settled himself 
in front of them and leaned his head back to have 
it combed. The two maidens dared not disobey ; 
and now and then they pulled at a long, coarse 
hair, and then snapped their fingers close to his 
scalp, which so deceived the old demon that he 
grunted with satisfaction every time. At last 
their knees were so tired by his weight upon them 



3/6 Zuni Folk Tales 

that they said they were done, and Atahsaia, 
rising, pretended to be greatly pleased, and 
thanked them over and over. Then he told them 
to sit down in front of him, and he would comb 
their hair as they had combed his, but not to 
mind if he hurt a little for his fingers were old and 
stiff. The two girls again dared not disobey, 
and sat down as he had directed. Uhh ! how the 
old beast grinned and glared and breathed softly 
between his teeth. 

The two brothers had carefully watched every- 
thing, the elder one starting up now and then, the 
younger remaining quiet. Suddenly Matsailema 
sprang up. He caught the shield the Sun-father 
had given him, — the shield which, though made 
only of nets and knotted cords, would ward off 
alike the weapons of the warrior or the magic of 
the wizard. Holding it aloft, he cried to Ahai- 
yuta : " Stand ready ; the time is come ! If I miss 
him, pierce him with your arrow. Now, then — " 

He hurled the shield through the air. Swiftly 
as a hawk and noiselessly as an owl, it sailed 
straight over the heads of the maidens and settled 
between them and the demon's face. The shield 
was invisible, and the old demon knew not it 
was there. He leaned over as if to examine the 
maidens' heads. He opened his great mouth, and, 
bending yet nearer, made a vicious bite at the 
elder one. 

" Ai, ai ! my poor little sister, alas !" with which 
both fell to sobbing and moaning, and crouched, 
expecting instantly to be destroyed. 



Atahsaia, the Cannibal Demon 377 

But the demon's teeth caught in the meshes of 
the invisible shield, and, howling with vexation, 
he began struggling to free himself of the encum- 
brance. Ahaiyiita drew a shaft to the point and 
let fly. With a thundering noise that rent the 
rocks, and a rush of strong wind, the shaft blazed 
throuo-h the air and buried itself in the demon's 

o 

shoulders, piercing him through ere the thunder 
had half done pealing. Swift as mountain sheep 
were the leaps and light steps of the brothers, 
who, boundincr to the shelf of rock, drew their 
war-clubs and soon softened the hard skull of the 
old demon with them. The younger sister was 
unharmed save by fright ; but the elder sister lay 
where she had sat, insensible. 

" Hold !" cried Matsailema, "she was to blame, 
but then — " Lifting the swooning maiden in 
his strong little arms, he laid her apart from the 
others, and, breathing into her nostrils, soon revived 
her eyes to wisdom. 

" This day have we, through the power of sawa^i- 
ikia, seen'^ for our father an enemy of our children 
men. A beast that caused unto fatherless children, 
unto menless women, unto wome7zless me7i (who 
thus became through his evil will), tears and sad 
thoughts, has this day been looked upon by the Sun 
and laid low. May the favors of the gods thus 
meet us ever." 

Thus said the two brothers, as they stood over the 
gasping, still struggling but dying demon ; and as 
they closed their little prayer, the maidens, who 

' To "see " an enemy signifies, in Zuni mythology, to take his life. 



37^ Zuni Folk Tales 

now first saw whom they had to thank for their 
deliverance, were overwhelmed with gladness, yet 
shame. They exclaimed, in response to the prayer : 
''May they, indeed, thus meet yo2i and ourselves ! '' 
Then they breathed upon their hands. 

The two brothers now turned toward the eirls. 
" Look ye upon the last enemy of men," said they, 
" whom this day we have had the power of sazvan- 
ikia given us to destroy ; whom this day the father 
of all, our father the Sun, has looked upon, whose 
light of life this day our weapons have cut off ; 
whose path of life this day our father has divided. 
Not ourselves, but our father has done this deed, 
through us. Haste to your home in Heshokta and 
tell your father these things ; and tell him, pray, 
that he must assemble his priests and teach them 
these our words, for we divide our paths of life 
henceforth from one another and from the paths of 
men, no more to mingle save in spirit with the 
children of men. But we shall depart for our 
everlasting home in the mountains — the one to the 
Mountain of Thunder, the other to the Mount of 
the Beloved — to guard from sunrise to sunset the 
land of the Corn-priests of Earth, that the foolish 
among men break not into the Middle Country of 
Earth and lay it waste. Yet we shall require of 
our children the plumes wherewith we dress our 
thoughts, and the forms of our being wherewith men 
may renew us each year at midsun. Henceforth 
two stars at morning and evening will be seen, the 
one going before, the other following, the Sun- 
father — the one Ahaiyiita, his herald ; the other 



Atahsaia, the Cannibal Demon 379 

Matsailema, his guardian ; warriors both, and fath- 
ers of men. May the trail of life be finished ere 
divided ! Go ye happily hence." 

The maidens breathed from the hands of the 
Twain, and with bowed heads and a prayer of thanks 
started down the pathway toward the Town of the 
Cliffs. When they came to their home, the old 
father asked whence they came. They told the 
story of their adventure and repeated the words of 
the Beloved. 

The old man bowed his head, and said : " It was 
Ahaiyiita and Matsailema ! " Then he made a 
prayer of thanks, and cast abroad on the winds 
white meal of the seeds of earth and shells from the 
Great Waters of the World, the pollen of beautiful 
flowers, and the paints of war. 

" It is well ! " he said. " Four days hence I 
will assemble my warriors, and we will cut the 
plume-sticks, paint and feather them, and place 
them on hig-h mountains, that throuorh their knowl- 
edge and power of medicine our Beloved Two 
Warriors may take them unto themselves." 

Now, when the maidens disappeared among the 
rocks below, the brothers looked each at the other 
and laughed. Then they shouted, and Ahaiyiita 
kicked Atahsaia's ugly carcass till it gurgled, at 
which the two boys shouted again most hilariously 
and laughed. " That 's what we proposed to do with 
you, old beast ! " they cried out. 

" But, brother younger," said Ahaiyiita, " what 
shall be done with him now ? " 

" Let 's skin him," said Matsailema. 



3^o Zuni Folk Tales 

So they set to work and skinned the body from 
foot to head, as one skins a fawn when one wishes 
to make a seed-bag. Then they put sticks into 
the legs and arms, and tied strings to them, and 
stuffed the body with dry grass and moss ; and 
where they set the thing up against the cliff it 
looked verily like the living Atahsaia. 

" Uhh ! what an ugly beast he was ! " said Mat- 
sailema. Then he shouted : " Wahaha, hi hi ho / " 
and almost doubled up with laughter. " Won't 
we have fun with old grandmother, though. Hurry 
up ; let 's take care of the rest of him ! " 

They cut off the head, and Ahaiyiita said to it : 
" Thou hast been a liar^ and told a falsehood for every 
life thou hast taken in the world ; therefore shall 
thou become a lying star, and each night thy guilt 
shall be see^i of all men throughotU the wide worlds 
He twirled the bloody head around once or twice, 
and cast it with all might into the air, Wa mtiu / 
it sped through the spaces into the middle of the 
sky like a spirt of blood, and now it is a great red 
star. It rises in summer-time and tells of the com- 
ing morning when it is only midnight ; hence it is 
called Mokwanosana (Great Lying Star). 

Then Matsailema seized the great knife and 
ripped open the abdomen with one stroke. Grasp- 
ing the intestines, he tore them out and exclaimed : 
" Ye have devoured and digested the flesh of men 
over the whole wide world ; therefore ye shall be 
stretched from one end of the earth to the other, 
and the children of those ye have wasted will look 
upon ye every night and will say to one another : 



Atahsaia, the Cannibal Demon 381 

' Ak, the entrails of him luho caused sad thoughts 
to our grandfathers shine well tonight/' a?id they 
will laugh and sneer at ye'' Whereupon he slung 
the whole mass aloft, and tsolo ! it stretched from 
one end of the world to the other, and became the 
Great Snow-drift of the Skies (Milky Way). Lift- 
ing the rest of the carcass, they threw it down 
into the chasm whither the old demon had thrown 
so many of his victims, and the rattlesnakes came 
out and ate of the flesh day after day till their 
fangs grew yellow with putrid meat, and even now 
their children's fangs are yellow and poisonous. 

" Now, then, for some fun ! " shouted Matsailema. 
" Do you catch the old bag up and prance around 
with it a little ; and I will run off to see how it 
looks." 

Ahaiyuta caught up the effigy, and, hiding him- 
self behind, pulled at the strings till it looked, of 
all things thinkable, like the living Atahsaia him- 
self starting out for a hunt, for they threw the 
lion skins over it and tied the bow in its hand. 

" Excellent ! Excellent ! " exclaimed the boys, 
and they clapped their hands and wa-ha-ha-ed and 
ho-ho-ho-ed till they were sore. Then, dragging 
the skin along, they ran as fast as they could, 
down to the plain below Twin Mountain. 

The Sun was climbing down the western ladder, 
and their old grandmother had been looking all 
over the mountains and valleys below to see if the 
two boys were coming. She had just climbed the 
ladder and was gazing and fretting and saying: 



3^2 Zuni Folk Tales 

" Oh ! those two boys ! terrible pests and as hard- 
hearted and as lonof-winded in havino- their own 
way as a turtle is in having his ! Now, some- 
thing has happened to them ; I knew it would," 
when suddenly a frightened scream came up from 
below. 

'' Ho-o-o-ta ! Ho-o-o-ta ! Come quick! Help! 
Help !" the voice cried, as if in anguish. 

"Uhh ! " exclaimed the old woman, and she 
went so fast in her excitement that she tumbled 
through the trap-door, and then jumped up, scold- 
inof and ofroaninof. 

o o o 

She grabbed a poker of pinon, and rushed out of 
the house. Sure enough, there was poor Matsai- 
lema running hard and calling again and again 
for her to hurry down. The old woman hobbled 
along over the rough path as fast as she could, 
and until her wind was blowing shorter and 
shorter, when, suddenly turning around the crags, 
she caught sight of Ahaiyiita struggling to get 
away from Atahsaia. 

" 6> ai of I knew it! I knew it!" cried the 
old woman ; and she ran faster than ever until 
she came near enough to see that her poor grand- 
son was almost tired out, and that Matsailema had 
lost even his war-club. " Stiffen your feet, — my 
boys, — wait — a bit," puffed the old woman, and, 
flying into a passion, she rushed at the effigy 
and began to pound it with her poker, till the 
dust fairly smoked out of the dry grass, and the 
skin doubled up as if it were in pain. 

Matsailema rolled and kicked in the grass, and 



Atahsaia, the Cannibal Demon 383 

Ahaiyuta soon had to let the stuffed demon fall 
down for sheer laughing. But the old woman 
never ceased. She belabored the demon and 
cursed his cannibal heart and told him that was 
what he got for chasing her grandsons, and that, 
and this, and that, whack ! whack ! without stop- 
ping, until she thought the monster surely must 
be dead. Then she was about to rest when sud- 
denly the boys pulled the strings, and the demon 
sprang up before her, seemingly as well as ever. 
Again the old woman fell to, but her strokes 
kept getting feebler and feebler, her breath shorter 
and shorter, until her wind went out and she fell 
to the ground. 

How the boys did laugh and roll on the ground 
when the old ofrandmother moaned : " Alas ! alas ! 
This day — my day — light is — cut off — and my 
wind of life — fast going." 

The old woman covered her head with her tat- 
tered mantle ; but when she found that Atahsaia 
did not move, she raised her eyes and looked 
through a rent. There were her two grandsons 
rolling and kicking on the grass and holding their 
mouths with both hands, their eyes swollen and 
faces red with laughter. Then she suddenly 
looked for the demon. There lay the skin, all 
torn and battered out of shape. 

" So ho ! you pesky wretches ; that 's the way 
you treat me, is it ? Well ! never again will I 
help you, never ! " she snapped, " nor shall you 
ever live with me more ! " Whereupon the old 
woman jumped up and hobbled away. 



384 



Zuni Folk Tales 



But little did the brothers care. They laughed 
till she was far away, and then said one to the 
other: " It is done !" 

Since that time, the grandmother has gone, no one 
knows where. But Ahaiyiita and Matsailema are 
the bright stars of the morning and evening, just 
in front of and behind the Sun-father himself. 
Yet their spirits hover over their shrines on Thun- 
der Mountain and the Mount of the Beloved, 
they say, or linger over the Middle of the World, 
forever to guide the games and to guard the warriors 
of the Land of Zuni. Thus it was in the days of 
the ancients. 

Thus shortens my story. 





iSM ' \\\w IT' 



THE HERMIT MITSINA 

WHEN all was new, and the gods dwelt in the 
ancient places, long, long before the time 
of our ancients, many were the gods — some des- 
tined for good and some for evil or for the doing 
of things beneath understanding. And those of 
evil intent, so painfully bad were they to become 
that not in the company and council of the pre- 
cious beloved of the Kdkd (the Order of the Sacred 
Drama) could they be retained. 

Thus it happened, in the times of our ancients, 
long, long ago, that there dwelt all alone in the 
Canon of the Pines, southeast of Zuni, Mitsina the 
Hermit. Of evil understandingr he ; therefore it had 
been said to him (by the gods) : " Alone shalt thou 
dwell, being unwise and evil in thy ways, until thou 
hast, through much happening, even become worthy 
to dwell amongst us." Thus it was that Mitsina 
lived alone in his house in the Canon of the Pines. 

Sometimes when a young man, dressed in very 
fine apparel (wearing his collars of shell, and 
turquoise earrings, and other precious things which 
were plentiful in the days of our ancients), would 
be out hunting- and chanced to sfo throug-h the 
Canon of the Pines and near to the house of 
Mitsina, he would hear the sounds of gaming from 
within ; for, being alone, the hermit whiled away 
his time in playing at the game of sacred arrows 
(or cane-cards). 

385 



386 Zuni Folk Tales 

Forever from the ceilinor of his house there 
hung suspended his basket-drum, made of a large 
wicker bowl, over the mouth of which was stretched 
tightly a soft buckskin, even like the basket-drums 
which we use in the playing of cane-cards today, 
and which you know are suspended with the skin- 
side downward from the ceilings of the pfamino- 
rooms in the topmost houses of our town. Though 
the one he had was no better than those we have 
today, save that it was larger and handsomer per- 
haps, yet he delighted to call it his cloud canopy, 
bethinking himself of the drum-basket of his 
former associates, the gods, which is even the 
rounded sky itself, with the clouds stretched across 
it. Forever upon the floor of his house there lay 
spread a great buffalo robe, the skin upward 
dressed soft and smooth, as white as corn-flour, 
and painted with the many-colored symbols and 
counting marks of the game, even as our own. 
But he delighted to call it his sacred terraced 
plain, ^ bethinking himself of the robe-spread of 
the gods, which is even the outspread earth itself, 
bordered by terraced horizons, and diversified by 
mountains, valleys, and bright places, which are 

'The words "terrace," "sacred terrace," "terraced plain" {awithlu- 
iane, awitkluian-pewine), and the like, wherever they occur, refer to the 
figurative expression for the eai^ in the Zuni rituals addressed to the gods, 
where they are used as more i^Srly conforming to the usage of the gods. 
The symbol of the earth on the sacred altars is a terraced or zigzag figure 
or decoration, and the same figure appears in their carvings and other 
ornamental work. The disgraced god Mitsina applied the term to the 
robe spread out as the bed for his game. It may be stated in further 
explanation that the country in which the Zuiiis have wandered and 
lived for unnumbered generations, and where they still dwell, is made 



The Hermit Mitsina 387 

the symbols and game marks whereby the gods 
themselves count up the score of their game. 

Hearing these sounds of the game in passing, 
the young man would naturally draw near and 
listen. Though all alone, every time he made a 
good throw Mitsina would exclaim '' Her-r-r-r !'' 
and as the canes struck the skin of the drum- 
basket above, tcha-le-le, tcha-le-le, it would sound ; 
and ke-lc-le they would rattle as they fell on the 
robe below. " Ha ! ha ! " old Mitsina would ex- 
claim, as if triumphantly to some opponent in the 
game, — "■ Kohakwa iyathtokyai ! '' as much as to 
say : " Good for you, old fellow ! The white-corn 
symbol fell uppermost ! " 

"Oh!" the young man would exclaim as he 
listened. " Oh ! " — and, wishing to learn more 
about the matter, he would stealthily climb up the 
ladder and peer down through the sky-hole. Old 
Mitsina would catch sight of him, be sure of that, 
and greet him most cordially, calling to him : 
" Come in, come in, my fine young fellow, come 
in ; let 's have a game ! " 

Now, he had practised so long that he had 

up largely of mesas, or flat-top mountains or elevations, rising one above 
another and showing as terraces on the horizon. Beheld at great dis- 
tances, or in the evening, these mountain terraces are mere silhouettes and 
serve to exaggerate the zigzag spaces of light between them. As the 
conventional sacred emblem for the earth is a terrace, outspread or 
upreaching, as the case may be, so the conventional sacred emblem 
for the sky is an inverted terrace. 

To the gods the whole earth is represented as having seemed so 
small that they Invariably spoke of it as the terraced plain, and in their 
playing of this game they are supposed to have used it as the bed for 
the game, as the Zufii people used the outspread buffalo robe for the 
purpose. 



388 Zuni Folk Tales 

acquired more skill than anyone else throughout 
the world — at least among mortals ; so that when 
any of the young men chanced to play with him, 
he invariably lost, poor fellow ! Hanging on the 
pole along the north side of Mitsina's house were 
the necklaces, embroidered mantles, and turquoises, 
and all sorts of treasures which he had won in this 
way ; and as many on the western side, on the 
southern side as many, and on the eastern side 
also. 

When the young man came in, Mitsina would 
continue : " My good friend, sit right down over 
there. Have you your canes today?" If the 
young man said " Yes," he would say : " Ha ! very 
well." Or, if he said " No," " Never mind," Mitsina 
would say ; " here are some," producing a very fine 
set of polished canes. The young man, being thus 
pressed, would stake perhaps his necklace or his 
earrings, and the game would begin. Losing 
them, he would stake his clothing, his bows and ar- 
rows — in fact, everything he had about him. You 
know how it is with gamesters when they have 
lost a great deal and wish to get it back again ? 
Well, so it was then. When the young man had 
lost everything, he would bow his head on his 
hand, and sit thinking. Then old Mitsina, with a 
jolly, devil-may-care manner, would say : " Bet 
your left thigh. I '11 put all you have lost and 
more, too, on that." The young man would say to 
himself, with a sigh of relief : " What an old fool 
you are ! " and reply : '* All right ! I will take your 
bet." Alas ! the one thigh he bet is lost ; then the 




Photo by A. C. Vroman 



PALOWAHTIWA 



The Hermit Mitsina 389 

other goes the same way ; then one of his sides 
and arms ; losing which, he bet the other, and so 
on, until he had bet away his whole body, including 
his head. Then in utter despair he would exclaim : 
" Do with me as thou wilt. I am thy slave." And 
old Mitsina with the same devil-may-care manner 
would catch him up, take him out to the back of 
his house and wring his neck that he might not go 
back and report his losses to his people. 

Again, some other well-equipped young man 
would be passing that way, and hearing the sound 
made by the solitary player, and being attracted 
thereby, would be drawn in the same way into 
the game, would lose everything, and old Mitsina 
would wring his neck and keep his treasures. 

Thus it was in the days of the ancients. Great 
were the losses of the young men, and many of 
them perished. 

Well, one day little Ahaiyiita and Matsailema — 
the War-gods of peace times — who dwelt, as }'ou 
know, where their shrine now stands on Face 
Mountain, with their old grandmother, — went out 
hunting rabbits and prairie-dogs. It chanced that 
in following- the rabbits along the cliffs of a side 
canon they came into the Canon of the Pines, near 
where the house of Mitsina stood. Presently they 
heard the sounds of his game. " Hu, hu ! " the 
old fellow would exclaim as he cast his canes into 
the air. Ke-le-le-le they would rattle as they fell 
on the skin. 

" Uh ! " exclaimed Ahaiyiita, the elder. " Brother 
younger, listen." 



390 Zuni Folk Tales 

The younger listened. " By my eyes ! " ex- 
claimed he, " it is someone playing at cane-cards. 
Let 's go and have a peep at him," So they 
climbed the ladder and peered in through the 
sky-hole. 

Presently, old Mitsina espied them, and called 
out : " Ha ! my little fellows ; glad to see you to- 
day ! How are you ? Come in, come in ! I am 
dying for a game ; I was playing here all by 
myself." 

The two little War-gods clambered down the 
ladder, and old Mitsina placed blankets for them, 
invited them most cordially to sit down, and asked 
if they would like to play a game. Nothing loth 
they, seeing all the fine things hanging round his 
room ; so out from their girdles they drew their 
cane-cards, for those, as you know, they always 
carried with them. 

Perhaps I have not told you that even the 
basket-drum old Mitsina played with was fringed 
with the handsome long turquoise earrings which 
he had won, and even under the robe on which he 
played there were piled one over another, in a 
great flat heap, the finest of the necklaces gathered 
from those whom he had defeated in playing and 
then slain. 

"What would you like to put up?" asked the 
old fellow, pointing around his room — particularly 
to the basket-drum fringed with turquoises — and 
lifting the robe and showing just enough of the 
necklaces underneath it to whet the appetites of 
the little War-gods. 



The Hermit Mitsina 391 

" We 've nothing fine enough to bet for these 
things," said they ruefully. 

" O ho ! " cried Mitsina. " No matter, no matter 
at all, my boys. Bet your bows and arrows and 
clothing ; if you like, bet everything you have on, 
and I '11 put up that poleful there on the north 
side of my room." 

" Good ! good ! tell him all right," whispered 
the younger brother to the elder. 

So the elder agreed, chuckling to himself, for 
it was rarely that a man was found who could beat 
the little War-gods in a game. And they began 
their playing. How the turquoises rattled as 
they threw their canes ! How the canes jingled 
and thumped as they fell on the robe ! 

The game was merry and long, and well played 
on both sides ; but the poor little War-gods lost. 
Their countenances fell ; but old Mitsina, with a 
merry twinkle in his eyes, exclaimed : " Oh pshaw ! 
never mind, never mind ! " 

" Yes," said the two War-gods, " but how in 
the world are we ever going back to our grand- 
mother in this plight ? " — glancing down over their 
bare bodies, for they had bet even the clothing 
off their backs. " What else can we bet ? How 
can we win back what we have lost ? " 

" Bet your left thighs," said the old hermit. 

They thought a moment, and concluded they 
would do so. So the game was staked again and 
begun and the canes rattled merrily ; but they lost 
again. Then old Mitsina suggested that they bet 
their other thighs. They did so and again lost. 



392 Zuni Folk Tales 

Then he suggested they should bet their left sides, 
hoping forthwith to get hold of their hearts, but 
the young War-gods were crafty. The elder one 
exclaimed : " All right ! " but the younger one said : 
" Goodness ! as for you, you can bet your left 
side if you want to, but I '11 bet my right, for my 
heart is on my left side, and who ever heard of a 
man betting away his heart ! " 

"Just as you like," said Mitsina, "but if you'll 
bet your bodies up to your necks I will stake all 
you have lost and all I have besides," said he, look- 
ing around on his fine possessions. 

" Done ! " cried the War-gods. And again they 
played and again lost. Then they had nothing 
left but their heads and ears and eyes to bet. 
Finally they concluded to bet these also, for said 
they to one another : " What good will our heads 
do us, even though they be the crown-pieces of 
our being, without the rest ? " 

They played again, but the poor fellows lost 
their heads also. " Alas ! alas ! do as thou wilt 
with us," exclaimed the little War-gods, with rueful 
countenances. 

Old Mitsina, locking them up in a small recess 
of his house, went out and gathered before his 
front door a great quantity of dry wood. Then he 
tied the little fellows hand and foot, and laid them 
near by, — not near enough to burn them up, but 
near enough so that they would scorch, — and 
lighted the fire, to have the pleasure of roasting 
them. When they began to brown and sizzle a 
little they writhed and howled with pain, but they 



The Hermit Mitsina 393 

were tough and quite bad, as you know, and this did 
not kill them. 

Who can hide a thing from the eyes of the 
gods ? The elder brothers of these two foolish 
little War-gods, Ahaiyuta and Matsailema, those 
who dwelt on Thunder Mountain, became aware of 
what was going on. " Come, brother younger," 
said the elder, strapping on his quiver and taking 
his bow in hand, " come, let us off to old Mit- 
sina's house and teach him a lesson ! " So, in a 
twinkling they were climbing down the mountain, 
speeding across the wide valley, and threading 
their way through the Canon of the Pines. 

Mitsina had grown tired of watching the poor 
little War-gods and had gone in to have another 
little game, and there he was pitching his cane- 
cards and talking to himself, as usual. The two 
gods hauled their unfortunate brothers away from 
the fire, and, climbing the ladder, peered in. Mit- 
sina espied them, and as usual invited them in to a 
game. With as jolly an air as his own they ac- 
cepted his challenge and sat down. Mitsina 
offered to bet all his fine things hanging on the 
north side of the house. " What will you put up, 
my little fellows ? " asked he. 

" If you will include those ugly little devils that 
we saw sizzlinor before the fire when we came in, 
we will bet you everything we have with us," 
said they. 

" Good ! good ! haul them in ! " shouted Mitsina. 

The War-ofods scrambled out of the house, 
and, by no means gently, dragged their wretched 



394 Zuni Folk Tales 

little brothers in by the heels and dumped them 
down on the floor to show their indifference, sat 
down, and began to play. They bet their weapons, 
holding up the knife of war which they carried, the 
point of lightning itself fatal in power, — splitter 
of mountains and overcomer of demons and men 
alike. 

Old Mitsina, when told of the power of the weap- 
ons, became doubtful as to his company, but pres- 
ently fell to and played with a will. He lost. Then 
he put up all the rest of his goods hanging on the 
other side of the room. Again he lost, and again, 
even the turquoises hanging from the basket-drum, 
the necklaces under his robe, and the things he 
played with, and getting wild with excitement, sure 
that his luck would return, followed out the plan 
he had so often suggested to others, and bet away 
his thighs, then his sides and arms, then his head 
and ears, excepting his eyes, and last of all his very 
eyes themselves. Each time the young War-gods 
won. The old gambler let his hands fall by his 
sides, and dropped his head on his breast, sick 
with humiliation and chagfrin. 

" Now, my brother," said the elder to the 
younger, "what shall we do with this beast?" 

" I don't know," said the other. "We can't kill 
him ; yet, if we leave him to go his own way, he will 
gamble and gamble without ceasing, and make no 
end of trouble. Suppose we make a good man of 
him." 

" How ? " asked the other. 

" Pluck out his eyes." 



The Hermit Mitsina 395 

" Capital ! " exclaimed the first. So, while one 
of them held the old fellow down, the other 
gouged out his eyes, and with pain and horror he 
utterly forgot in unconsciousness (swooned away). 

The two elder War-gods set their younger 
brothers on their feet, and all four of them joined 
in clearing out the treasures and magnificent pos- 
sessions which Mitsina through all these years had 
won from his victims ; and these they took away 
with them that by their sacred knowledge they 
might change them into blessings for the faithful 
of their children among men, and thus return, as it 
were, what had been lost. Then away they went, 
leaving old Mitsina still as witless as a dead man, 
to his fate. 

By-and-by the old man came to his senses, and 
raising himself up, tried to look around, but, for- 
sooth, he could not see. 

" What in the world has happened ? What a 
fearful pain I have in my temples ! " said he. 
" What is the matter ? Is it night ? " 

Then gradually his situation came to him. He 
uttered a groan of pain and sorrow, and, putting 
out his hand, felt the wall and raised himself by it. 
Then he crept along, feeling his way to the window, 
not yet quite certain whether he had been dream- 
inor all this and it was still nio;ht, or whether he had 
really lost everything and been bereft of his eyes 
by those midgets. When he put his hand into the 
window, however, he felt the warm sunlight stream- 
ing in, and knew that it was still day, and that 
it was all true. 



39^ Zuni Folk Tales 

In feeling there he chanced to touch a little 
package of pitch which had been laid in the win- 
dow. He felt it all over with both hands, but 
could not quite tell what it was. Then he put 
it aofainst his cheek, but was still uncertain ; then 
he rubbed it, and smelt of it. " Pitch ! pitch ! as 
I live ! " said he. " I have often lighted this when 
it was dark, and been able to see. Now, maybe, if 
I light it this time, I shall be able to see again." 
He felt his way all round the room to the fireplace, 
and after burning his fingers two or three times in 
feeling for coals, he found a sliver and held it in 
the coals and ashes until he heard it begin to 
sputter and crackle. Then he lighted the pitch 
with it. Eyeless though he was, the fumes from 
this medicine of the woodlands restored to him a 
kind of vision. " Good ! " cried the old fellow, " I 
see again ! " But when he looked around, he saw 
nothing as it had been formerly ; and his thoughts 
reverted to the great City of the Gods {Kothlu- 
ellakwin) ; and, as it were, he could see the way 
thither. So he turned toward his door, and with a 
sigh gave up his old place of abode, relinquished 
all thought of his possessions, gave up his former 
bad inclinations, and turned westward toward the 
City of the Gods and Souls. 

As he went along holding his light before him 
and following it, he sang a mournful song. The 
Birds, hearing this song, flocked around him, and as 
he went on singing, exclaimed to one another : 
** Ha ! ha ! the old wretch ; he has lost his eyes ! 
Served him right ! Let 's put out his light for him." 



The Hermit Mitsina 397 

Now, before that time, strange as it may seem, 
the Eagles and even the Crows were as white 
as the foam on warring waters. The Eagles were 
so strong that they thrust the other birds away, 
and began to pounce down at Mitsina's light, try- 
ing to blow it out with their wings. Think / 
tJihih ! they would flap into the light ; but still 
it would not go out ; and they only singed their 
feathers and blackened their wings and tails with 
smoke. In looking at one another they saw what 
a sad plight they were in. " Good gracious, 
brothers ! " exclaimed some of them to the others, 
" we have made a fine mess of our white plumage ! " 
And they gave it up. 

Then the Crows rushed in and flapped against 
the light, but they could not put it out ; and al- 
though they grew blacker and blacker, they would 
not give it up. So they became as black as crows 
are now ; and ever since then eagles have been 
speckled with brown and black, and crows have 
been black, even to the tips of their beaks. And 
whenever in the Sacred Drama Dance of our peo- 
ple old Mitsina appears, he sings the doleful song 
and carries the light of pitch pine. He goes naked, 
with the exception of a wretched old cloth at his 
loins ; and he wears a mask with deep holes for 
eyes, blood streaming from them. 

Thus shortens my story. 



HOW THE TWINS OF WAR AND 
CHANCE, AHAIYUTA AND MATSAI- 
LEMA, FARED WITH THE UNBORN- 
MADE MENOFTHE UNDERWORLD^ 

Translator's Introduction 

HERETOFORE I have withheld from publication 
such single examples of Zufli folk-lore as the fol- 
lowing, in order that the completer series might be 
brought forth in the form of an unbroken collection, with 
ample introductory as well as supplementary chapters, 
essential to the proper understanding by ourselves of the 
many distinctively Zufli meanings and conceptions in- 
volved in the various allusions with which any one of 
them teems. Yet, to avoid encumbering the present ex- 
ample with any but the briefest of notes, I must ask 
leave to refer the reader to the more general yet detailed 
chapters I have already written in the main, and with 
which, I have reason to hope, I will ere long be able to 
present the tales in question. Meanwhile, I would refer 
likewise to the essay I have recently prepared for the 
Thirteenth Annual Report of the Bureau of American 
Ethnology, on Zuhi Creation Myths in their relation to 
primitive dance and other dramaturgic ceremonies. 

Ever one of my chief story-tellers was Waihusiwa, — of 
the priestly kin of Zufli. He had already told me some- 
what more than fifty of the folk tales, long and short, of 
his people, when one night I asked him for " only one 
more story of the grandfathers." Wishing to evade me, 
he replied with more show than sincerity : 

' Reprinted from the yournal of American Folk-Lore, vol. v., No. i6, pp. 
49-56. 

398 



The Twins of War 399 

" There is a North, and of it I have told you tc-la-p'- 
na-we.^ There is a West; of it also I have told you td- 
la-f-na-wc. There are the South and East; of them 
likewise have I told you td-la-p" -na-zvc. Even of the 
Above have I not but lately told you of the youth who 
made love to his eagle and dwelt apace in the Sky- 
world ? And of the great World-embracing Waters ? 
You have been told of the hunter who married the Ser- 
pent-maiden and journeyed to the Mountain of Sunset. 
Now, therefore, my word-pouch is as empty as the food- 
pack of a lost hunter, and — " 

" Feel in the bottom of it, then," interposed old Pal- 
owahtiwa, who was sitting near, " and tell him of the 
Underworld." 

" Hi-ta ! [Listen !] brother younger," said Waihusiwa, 
nonplussed but ever ready. " Did you ever hear tell of 
the people who could not digest, having, forsooth, no 
proper insides wherewithal to do so ? Did you ever hear 
of them, brother younger ? " 

"Nay, never; not even from my own grandfathers," 
said I. " Sons ho to your story; short be it or long." * 

" Sons ho tse-ttd ! " (" Cool your * sons ho ! ' and wait 
till /begin." )-F. H. C. 

Zu5ii Introduction 

It seems — so the words of the grandfathers say 
— that in the Underworld were many strange 
things and beings, even villages of men, long ago. 

' From (/-na-ia-a, " time or times of," and pd-na-we, words or speeches 
(tales) : " tales of time." 

* The invariable formula for beginning a folk tale is, by the raconteur: 
" S6n ah-tchi ! " (" Let us take up ")—t^-la-f-ne, or " a folk tale," being 
understood. To this the auditors or listeners respond: '^'^-so.'" ("Yea, 
verily.") Again, by the raconteur: "Sons i-nd-o-to-na ! Tern"'' etc. (" Let 
us (tell of) the times of creation ! When," etc.) Again, by the listeners: 
" Sons /so ! Te-a-tii ! " (" Yea, let us, verily ! Be it so.") 



400 Zuni Folk Tales 

But the people of those villages were unborn-made, 
— more like the o-hosts of the dead than ourselves, 
yet more like ourselves than are the ghosts of the 
dead, for as the dead are more finished of being 
than we are, they were less so, as smoke, being 
hazy, is less fine than mist, which is filmy ; or as 
green corn, though raw, is soft like cooked corn 
which is done (like the dead), and as both are softer 
than ripe corn which, though raw, is hardened by 
age (as we are of meat). 

And also, these people were, you see, dead in 
a way, in that they had not yet begun to live, that 
is, as we live, in the daylight fashion. 

And so, it would seem, partly like ourselves, 
they had bodies, and partly like the dead they had 
no bodies, for being unfinished they were unfixed. 
And whereas the dead are like the wind, and take 
form from within of their own wills {ydn'te-tse7Jian\ 
these people were really like the smoke,^ taking 
form from without of the outward touching of 
things, even as growing and unripe grains and 
fruits do. 

' The Zuni classification of states of growth or being is as elaborate 
as that of relative space in their mythology — both extremely detailed and 
systematic, yet, when understood, purely primitive and simple. The 
universe is supposed to have been generated from haze {shi-7uai-a) pro- 
duced by light (of the All-container, Sun-father) out of darkness. The 
observed analogy of this in nature is the appearance of haze (both heat 
and steam) preceding growth in springtime ; the appearance of the 
world, of .growing and living things, through mist seemingly rising out 
of the darkness each morning. In harmony with this conception of the 
universe is the correlative one that every being (as to soul, at least) passes 
through many successive states of becoming, always beginning as a 
sM-u-na hd-i (haze being), and passing through the raw or soft {k'ya- 
pi-7ta), the formative {k'yat'-yu-na), variable (thUtn-ni-na), fixed or done 



The Twins of War 401 

Well, in consequence, it was passing strange 
what a state they were in ! Bethink ye ! Their 
persons were much the reverse of our own, for 
wherein we are hard, they were soft — pliable. 
Wherein we are most completed, they were most 
unfinished ; for not having even the organs of 
digestion, whereby we fare lustily, food in its 
solidity was to them destructive, whereas to us 
it is sustaining. When, therefore, they would eat, 
they dreaded most the food itself, taking thought 
not to touch it, and merely absorbing the mist 
thereof. As fishes fare chiefly on water, and birds 
on air, so these people ate by gulping down the 
steam and savor of their cooked things whilst 
cooking or still hot ; then they threw the real 
food away, forsooth ! 



The Tale 



N 



OW, the Twain Little-ones, Ahaiyiita and 
Matsailema,^ were ever seeking scenes of 



(ak-na), and finished or dead (d-s/ii'-kya) states ; whilst the condition of 

the surpassing beings (gods) may be any of these at will {i-tklim-na, or 

thlim-nah-na, etc.). There are many analogies of this observed by the 

Zuiii, likening, as he does, the generation of being to that of fire with the 

fire-drill and stick. The most obvious of these is the appearance, in 

volumes, of " smoke-steam " or haze just previously to ignition, and its 

immediate disappearance with ignition. Further, the succession of beings 

in the becoming of a complete being may be regarded as an orderly 

personification of growth phenomena as observed in plants and seeds ; 

for example, in corn, which is characterized by no fewer than thirteen 

mystic names, according to its stages of growth. This whole subject is 

much more fully and conclusively set forth in the writings to which I have 

already referred. 

' For the mythic origin of these two chief gods under the Sun, as his 

right- and left-hand being, their relation to chance, war, games, etc., I 

again refer the reader to the Zimi Creation Myths. 
26 



402 Zuni Folk Tales 

contention ; for what was deathly and dreadful to 
others was lively and delightful to them ; so that 
cries of distress were ever their calls of invitation, 
as to a feast or dance is the call of a priest to us. 

On a day when the world was quiet, they were 
sitting by the side of a deep pool. They heard 
curious sounds coming up through the waters, as 
though the bubbles were made by moans of the 
waters affrighted. 

" Uh ! " cried the elder. " What is that ? " 

The younger brother turned his ear to the 
ground and listened. 

" There is trouble down there, dire trouble, for 
the people of the Underworld are shrieking war- 
cries like daft warriors and wailing like murder- 
mourners. What can be the matter ? Let us 
descend and see ! " 

" Just so ! " said Ahaiyuta. 

Then they covered their heads with their cord- 
shields ^ — turned upside down — and shut their 
eyes and stepped into the deep pool. 

" Now we are in the dark," said they, " like the 
dark down there. Well, then, by means of the 
dark let us go down " — for they had wondrous 
power, had those Twain ; the magic of in-knowing- 
how thought had they. 



' Pi-a-la-we (cord or cotton shields), evidently an ancient style of 
shield still surviving in the form of sacrificial net-shields of the Priesthood 
of the Bow. But the shields of these two gods were supposed to have been 
spun from the clouds which, supporting the sky-ocean, that in turn 
supported the sky-world (as this world is believed to be supported by 
under-waters and clouds), were hence possessed of the power of floating — 
upward when turned up, downward when reversed. 



The Twins of War 403 

Down, like light through dark places, they went ; 
dry through the waters ; straight toward that 
village in the Underworld. 

" Whew ! the poor wretches are already dead," 
cried they, "and rotting" — for their noses were 
sooner accustomed to the dark than their eyes, 
which they now opened. 

" We might as well have spared ourselves the 
coming, and stayed above," said Ahaiyiita. 

" Nay, not so," said Matsailema. " Let us go 
on and see how they lived, even if they are 
dead." 

" Very well," said the elder ; and as they fared 
toward the village they could see quite plainly 
now, for they had made it dark (to themselves) 
by shutting their eyes in the daylight above, so 
now they made it light (to themselves) by opening 
their eyes in the darkness below and simply look- 
ing, — it was their way, you know. 

" Well, well ! " said Matsailema, as they came 
nearer and the stench doubled. " Look at the 
village ; it is full of people ; the more they smell 
of carrion the more they seem alive ! " 

" Yes, by the chut of an arrow ! " exclaimed 
Ahaiyiita. " But look here ! It is food we smell — 
cooked food, all thrown away, as we throw away 
bones and corn-cobs because they are too hard to 
eat and profitless withal. What, now, can be the 
meaning of this ?" 

" What, indeed ! Who can know save by know- 
ing," replied the younger brother. " Come, let us 
lie low and watch." 



404 Zuni Folk Tales 

So they went very quietly close to the village, 
crouched down, and peered in. Some people inside 
were about to eat. They took fine food steaming 
hot from the cooking-pots and placed it low down 
in wide trenchers ; then they gathered around and 
sipped in the steam and savor with every appear- 
ance of satisfaction ; but they were as chary of 
touching the food or of letting the food touch 
them as though it were the vilest of refuse. 

" Did you see that ? " queried the younger 
brother. " By the delight of death/ but — " 

" Hist ! " cried the elder. " If they are people of 
that sort, feeding upon the savor of food, then they 
will hear the suggestions of sounds better than the 
sounds themselves, and the very demon fathers 
would not know how to fare with such people, or to 
fight them, either ! " 

Hah ! But already the people had heard ! They 
set up a clamor of war, swarming out to seek the 
enemy, as well they might, for who would think 
favorably of a sneaking stranger under the shade 
of a house-wall watching the food of another ? 
Why, dogs growl even at their own offspring for 
the like of that ! 

" Where ? Who ? What is it ? " cried the peo- 
ple, rushing hither and thither like ants in a 
shower. " Hah ! There they are ! There ! 
Quick ! " cried they, pointing to the Twain, who 
were cutting away to the nearest hillock. And 
immediately they fell to singing their war-cry. 

' Hd-lu-ha-pa ; from he-lu, or /-/m, " hurrah," or " how delightful ! " — 
and kd-pa, a corpse-demon, death. 



The Twins of War 405 

" Ha-a ! Siis-ki ! 
0-ma-ta 
Hd-7i'i-mo-o ! 
0->fia-ia, 
0-ma-ta Hd-wi-mo !" ^ 

sang they as they ran headlong toward the Two, 
and then they began shouting : 

" Tread them both into the ground ! Smite them 
both ! Fan them out ! Ho-o ! Ha-a ! Hd-wi-^no-o 
6-nia-ta! " 

But the Twain laughed and quickly drew their 
arrows and loosed them amongst the crowd. Pit ! 
tsok ! sang the arrows through and through the 
people, but never a one fell. 

" Why, how now is this ? " cried the elder brother. 

" We '11 club them, then ! " said Matsailema, and 
he whiffed out his war-club and sprang to meet the 
foremost whom he pummelled well and sorely over 
the head and shoulders. Yet the man was only 
confused (he was too soft and unstable to be hurt); 
but another, rushing in at one side, was hit by one 
of the shield-feathers and fell to the ground like 
smoke driven down under a hawk's wing. 

•' Hold, brother, I have it ! Hold ! " cried 
Ahaiyiita. Then he snatched up a bunch of dry 
plume-grass and leaped forward. Swish / Two 
ways he swept the faces and breasts of the pursuers. 

' This, like so many of the folk-tale songs, can only be translated ety- 
mologically or by extended paraphrasing. Such songs are always jargon- 
istic, either archaic, imitative, or adapted from other languages of tribes 
who possibly supplied incidents to the myths themselves ; but they are, like 
the latter, strictly harmonized with the native forms of expression and 
phases of belief. 



4o6 Zuni Folk Tales 

Lo ! right and left they fell like bees in a rain- 
storm, and quickly sued for mercy, screeching and 
runninof at the mere sio^ht of the crrass-straws. 

" You fools ! " cried the brothers. " Why, then, 
did ye set upon us ? We came for to help you and 
were merely looking ahead as becomes strangers in 
strange places, when, lo ! you come running out like 
a mess of mad flies with your ' Ha-a sils-ki 6-ma-ta ! ' 
Call us coyote-sneaks, do you ? But there ! Rest 
fearless ! We hunger ; give us to eat." 

So they led the Twain into the court within the 
town and quickly brought steaming food for them. 

They sat down and began to blow the food to 
cool it, whereupon the people cried out in dismay : 
" Hold ! Hold, ye heedless strangers ; do not waste 
precious food like that ! For shame ! " 

" Waste food ? Ha ! This is the way we eat ! " 
said they, and clutching up huge morsels they 
crammed their mouths full and bolted them almost 
whole. 

The people were so horrified and sickened at 
sight of this, that some of them sweated furiously, — 
which was their way of spewing — whilst others, 
stouter of thought, cried: " Hold ! hold ! Ye will 
die ; ye will surely sicken and die if the stuff do but 
touch ye ! " 

" Ho ! ho ! " cried the Twain, eating more lustily 
than ever. " Eat thus and harden yourselves, you 
poor, soft things, you ! " 

Just then there was a great commotion. Every- 
one rushed to the shelter of the walls and houses, 
shouting to them to leave off and follow quickly. 



The Twins of War 407 

" What is it ? " asked they, looking up and all 
around. 

" Woe, woe ! The gods are angry with us this 
day, and blowing arrows at us. They will kill you 
both ! Hurry ! " A big puff of wind was blowing 
over, scattering slivers and straws before it ; that 
was all ! 

" Brother," said the elder, " this will not do. 
These people must be hardened and be taught to 
eat. But let us take a little sleep first, then we 
will look to this." 

They propped themselves up against a wall, 
set their shields in front of them, and fell asleep. 
Not long after they awakened suddenly. Those 
strange people were trying to drag them out to 
bury them, but were afraid to touch them now, for 
they thought them dead stuff, more dead than alive. 

The younger brother punched the elder with 
his elbow, and both pretended to gasp, then kept 
very still. The people succeeded at last in rolling 
them out of the court like spoiling bodies, and 
were about to mingle them with the refuse when 
they suddenly let go and set up a great wail, shout- 
ing "War! Murder!" 

"How now?" cried the Twain, jumping up. 
Whereupon the people stared and chattered in 
greater fright than ever at seeing the dead seem- 
ingly come to life ! 

" What 's the matter, you fool people ?" 

'' Akaa kaa^' cried a flock of jays. 

"Hear that!" said the villagers. " Hear that, 
and ask what 's the matter ! The jays are coming ; 



4o8 Zuni Folk Tales 

whoever they light on dies — run you two ! Aii ! 
Murder ! " And they left off their standing as 
though chased by demons. On one or two of the 
hindmost some jays alighted. They fell dead as 
though struck by lightning ! 

" Why, see that ! " cried the elder brother — 
" these people die if only birds alight on them ! " 

"Hold on, there!" said the younger brother. 
" Look here, you fearsome things ! " So they 
pulled hairs from some scalp-locks they had, and 
made snares of them, and whenever the jays flew 
at them they caught them with the nooses until 
they had caught every one. Then they pinched 
them dead and took them into the town and 
roasted them. " This is the way," said they, as 
they ate the jays by morsels. 

And the people crowded around and shouted : 
" Look ! look ! why, they eat the very enemy — 
say nothing of refuse ! " And although they 
dreaded the couple, they became very conciliatory 
and gave them a fit place to bide in. 

The very next day there was another alarm. 
The Two ran out to learn what was the matter. 
For a long time they could see nothing, but at 
last they met some people fleeing into the town. 
Chasing after them was a cooking-pot with ear- 
rings of onions.^ It was boiling furiously and 

' The onion here referred to is the dried, southwestern leek-clove, which 
is so strong and indigestible that, when eaten raw and in quantity, gives 
rise to great distress, or actually proves fatal to any but mature and 
vigorous persons. This, of course, explains why it was chosen for its 
value as a symbol of the vigor (or " daylight perfection" and invincibility) 
of the Twin gods. 



The Twins of War 409 

belching forth hot wind and steam and spluttering 
mush in every direction. If ever so little of the 
mush hit the people they fell over and died. 
'' He /" cried the Twain ; 

" Te-k'ya-thla-Kya 
l-ta-wa-k'ya 
Ash' -she-shu-kwa ! 

— As if food-Stuff were made to make people 
afraid!" Whereupon they twitched the ear-rings 
off the pot and ate them up with all the mush that 
was in the pot, which they forthwith kicked to 
pieces vigorously. 

Then the people crowded still closer around 
them, wondering to one another that they could 
vanquish all enemies by eating them with such 
impunity, and they begged the Twain to teach 
them how to do it. So they gathered a great 
council of the villagers, and when they found that 
these poor people were only half finished, . . . 
they cut vents in them (such as were not afraid 
to let them), . . . and made them eat solid 
food, by means of which they were hardened and 
became men of meat then and there, instead of 
having to get killed after the manner of the fear- 
ful, and others of their kind beforetime, in order 
to ascend to the daylight and take their places in 
men born of men. 

And for this reason, behold ! a new-born child 
may eat only of wind-stuff until his cord of view- 
less sustenance has been severed, and then only 
by sucking milk or soft food first and with much 
distress. 



4IO Zuni Folk Tales 

Behold ! And we may now see why, like new- 
born children are the very aged ; childish withal — 
d-ya-vwi^ ; — not only toothless, too, but also sure 
to die of diarrhoea if they eat ever so little save 
the soft parts and broths of cooked food. For 
are not the babes new-come from the Shz-u-na ^ 
world ; and are not the aged about to enter the 
Shi-po-lo-a '^ world, where cooked food unconsumed 
is never heeded by the fully dead ? 

Thus shortens my story. 

' Dangerously susceptible, tender, delicate. 
' Hazy, steam-growing. 
' Mist-enshrouded. 



THE COCK AND THE MOUSE 

Note. — While on their pilgrimage to the "Ocean of Sunrise'' in the 
summer of i8S6, three Zufiis — Palowahtiwa, Waihusiwa, and Heluta — with 
Mr. Gushing, were entertaining their assembled friends at Manchester-by- 
the-Sea with folk tales, those related by the Indians being interpreted by 
Mr. Gushing as they were uttered. When Mr. Gushing's turn came for a 
story he responded by relating the Italian tale of " The Gock and the 
Mouse " which appears in Thomas Frederick Grane's Italian Popular Talcs. 
About a year later, at Zuiii, but under somewhat similar circumstances, 
Waihusiwa's time came to entertain the gathering, and great was Mr. Gush- 
ing's surprise when he presented a Zuni version of the Italian tale. Mr. 
Gushing translated the story as literally as possible, and it is here reproduced, 
together with Mr. Crane's translation from the Italian, in order that the 
reader may not only see what transformation the original underwent in such 
a brief period, and how well it has been adapted to Zuiii environment and 
mode of thought, but also to give a glimpse of the Indian method of folk- 
tale making. — Editor. 

Italian Version 

ONCE upon a time there were a cock and a 
mouse. One day the mouse said to the cock : 
" Friend Cock, shall we go and eat some nuts on 
yonder tree ? " " As you like." So they both 
went under the tree and the mouse climbed up at 
once and began to eat. The poor cock began to 
fly, and flew and flew, but could not come where 
the mouse was. When it saw that there was no 
hope of getting there, it said : " Friend Mouse, do 
you know what I want you to do ? Throw me a 
nut." The mouse went and threw one and hit the 
cock on the head. The poor cock, with its head 
all broken and covered with blood, went away to an 
old woman. " Old aunt, sfive me some rag^s to cure 

411 



412 Zuni Folk Tales 

my head." " If you will give me two hairs I will 
give you the rags." The cock went away to a dog. 
" Dog, give me two hairs ; the hairs I will give the 
old woman ; the old woman will give me rags to 
cure my head." " If you will give me a little bread," 
said the dog, " I will give you the hairs." The 
cock went away to a baker. " Baker, give me 
bread ; I will give bread to the dog ; the dog will 
give hairs ; the hairs I will carry to the old woman ; 
the old woman will give me rags to cure my head." 
The baker answered : " I will not give you bread 
unless you give me some wood." The cock went 
away to the forest. " Forest, give me some wood ; 
the wood I will carry to the baker ; the baker will 
give me some bread ; the bread I will give to the 
dog ; the dog will give me hairs ; the hairs I will 
carry to the old woman ; the old woman will give 
me rags to cure my head." The forest answered : 
" If you will bring me a little water, I will give you 
some wood." The cock went away to a fountain. 
" Fountain, give me water ; water I will carry to the 
forest ; forest will give wood ; wood I will carry to 
the baker ; baker will give bread ; bread I will give 
dog ; dog will give hairs ; hairs I will give old wo- 
man ; old woman will give rags to cure my head." 
The fountain gave him water ; the water he carried 
to the forest ; the forest gave him wood ; the wood 
he carried to the baker ; the baker gave him bread ; 
the bread he gave to the dog ; the dog gave him 
the hairs ; the hairs he carried to the old woman ; 
the old woman gave him the rags ; and the cock 
cured his head. 



T 



The Cock and the Mouse 4^3 

Zu5Ji Version 

HUS it was in the Town of the Floods Abound- 
ing/ long ago. There lived there an old wo- 
man, so they say, of the Italia-kwel^ who, in the 
land of their nativity, are the parental brothers of the 
Mexicans, it is said. Now, after the manner of that 
people, this old woman had a Tdkdkd Cock which 
she kept alone so that he would not fight the others. 
He was very large, like a turkey, with a fine sleek 
head and a bristle-brush on his breast like a turkey- 
cock's too, for the Tdkdkd-VmA were at first the 
younger brothers of the Turkeys, so it would seem. 
Well, the old woman kept her Cock in a little 
corral of tall close-set stakes, sharp at the top and 
wattled together with rawhide thongs, like an eagle- 
cao-e aeainst a wall, only it had a little wicket also 
fastened with thongs. Now, try as he would, the 
old Tdkdkd Cock could not fly out, for he had no 
chance to run and make a start as turkeys do in the 
wilds, yet he was ever trying and trying, because he 
was meat-hungry — always anxious for worms ; — for, 
although the people of that village had abundant 
food, this old woman was poor and lived mainly on 
grain-foods, wherefore, perforce, she fed the old 
Tdkdkd Cock with the refuse of her own eatings. 
In the morning the old woman would come and 
throw this refuse food into the corral cage. 

Under the wall near by there lived a Mouse. He 
had no old grandmother to feed him, and he was 
particularly fond of grain food. When, having eaten 

' Venice. ' " Italy-people." 



414 Zuni Folk Tales 

his fill, the old Cock would settle down, stiff of neck 
and not looking this side nor that, but sitting in 
the sun kd-td-kd-tok-ing to himself, the little Mouse 
would dodge out, steal a bit of tortilla or a crumb, 
and whisk into his hole again. Being sleepy, the 
Tdkdkd Cock never saw him, and so, day after day 
the Mouse fared sumptuously and grew over-bold. 
But one day, when corn was ripe and the Cock had 
been well fed and was settling down to his sitting 
nap, the Mouse came out and stole a particularly 
large piece of bread, so that in trying to push it into 
his hole he made some noise and, moreover, had to 
stop and tunnel his doorway larger. 

The Cock turned his head and looked just as the 
Mouse was working his way slowly in, and espied 
the long, naked tail lying there on the ground and 
wriggling as the Mouse moved to and fro at his 
digging. 

" Hah ! By the Grandmother of Substance, 
it is a worm ! " cackled the Cock, and he made one 
peck at the Mouse's tail and bit it so hard that he 
cut it entirely off and swallowed it at one gulp. 

The Mouse, squeaking "Murder!" scurried 
down into his sleeping-place, and fell to licking 
his tail until his chops were all pink and his mouth 
was drawn down like a crying woman's ; for he 
loved his long tail as a young dancer loves the 
glory of his long hair, and he cried continually : 
" Weh tsu tsu, weh tsu ise, yam hok ti-i-i ! '' and 
thought : " Oh, that shameless great beast ! By 
the Demon of Slave-creatures, I '11 have my pay- 
ment of him ! For he is worse than an owl 



The Cock and the Mouse 415 

or a night-hawk. They eat us all up, but he has 
taken away the very mark of my mousehood and 
left me to mourn it. I '11 take vengeance on him, 
will I ! " 

So, from that time the Mouse thought how he 
might compass it, and this plan seemed best : He 
would creep out some day, all maimed of tail as 
he was, and implore pity, and thus, perchance, 
make friends for a while with the Tdkdkd Cock. 
So he took seed-down, and made a plaster 
of it with nut-resin, and applied it to the stump 
of his tail. Then, on a morning, holding his tail 
up as a dog does his foot when maimed by a cac- 
tus, he crawled to the edge of his hole and cried 
in a weak voice to the Tdkdkd : 

" Ani^ yoa yoa ! lid-ak'ya Mosa, 
Motcho wak'ya, 
Oshe wak'ya, 
Ethl hd asha ni ha. Ha na,yoa, ha na!''^ 

Look you, pity, pity ! Master of Food Substance, 

Of my maiming, 

Of my hunger, 
I am all but dying. Ah me, pity, ah me ! 

Whereupon he held up his tail, which was a safe 
thing to do, you see, for it no longer looked like 
a worm or any other eatable. 

Now, the Tdkdkd was flattered to be called a 
master of plenty, so he said, quite haughtily (for 
he had eaten and could not bend his neck, and felt 
proud, withal), " Come in, you poor little thing, 
and eat all you want. As if I cared for what the 



41 6 Zuni Folk Tales 

like of you could eat ! " So the Mouse went in 
and ate very little, as became a polite stranger, 
and thanking the Cock, bade him good-day and 
went back to his hole. 

By-and-by he came again, and this time he 
brought part of a nutshell containing fine white 
meat. When he had shouted warning of his com- 
ing and entered the corral cage, he said : " Com- 
rade father, let us eat together. Of this food I 
have plenty, gathered from yonder high nut-tree 
which I climb every autumn when the corn is 
ripe and cut the nuts therefrom. But of all food 
yours I most relish, since I cannot store such in 
my cellar. Now, it may be you will equally relish 
mine ; so let us eat, then, together." 

"It is well, comrade child," replied the Cock ; 
so they began to eat. 

But the Cock had no sooner tasted the nut than 
he fairly chuckled for joy, and having speedily 
made an end of the kernel, fell to lamenting his 
hard lot. "Alas, ah me!" he said. "My grand- 
mother brings me, on rare days, something like to 
this, but picked all too clean. There is nought 
eatable so nice. Comrade little one, do you have 
plenty of this kind, did you say ?" 

"Oh, yes," replied the Mouse; "but, you see, 
the season is near to an end now, and when I 
want more nuts I must go and gather them from 
the tree. Look, now ! Why do you not go there 
also? That is the tree, close by." 

" Ah me, I cannot escape, woe to me ! Look 
at my wings," said the Cock, " they are worn to 



The Cock and the Mouse 417 

bristles — and as to the beard on my breast, my 
chief ornament, alas ! it is all crumpled and un- 
even, so much have I tried to fly out and so hard 
have I pushed against the bars. As for the door, 
my grandmother claps that shut and fastens it 
tightly with thongs, be you sure, as soon as ever 
she finishes the feedino- of me ! " 

"Ha! ha!" exclaimed the Mouse. "If that's 
all, there 's nothing easier than to open that. 
Look at my teeth ; I even crack the hard nuts 
with these scrapers of mine! Wait!" He ran 
nimbly up the wicket and soon gnawed through 
the holding-string. " There ! comrade father ; 
push open the door, you are bigger than I, and 
we will Pfo nuttinor." 

" Thanks this day," cried the Cock, and shoving 
the wicket open, he ran forth cackling and crowing 
for gladness. 

Then the Mouse led the way to the tree. Up 
the trunk he ran, and climbed and climbed until 
he came to the topmost boughs. " Ha ! the nuts 
are fine and ripe up here," he shouted. 

But the Tdkdkd fluttered and flew all in vain ; 
his wino-s were so worn he could not win even to 
the lowermost branches. " Oh ! have pity on me, 
comrade child ! Cut off some of the nuts and throw 
them down to me, do ! My wings are so worn I 
cannot fly any better than the grandmother's old 
dog, who is my neighbor over there." 

" Be patient, be patient, father ! " exclaimed the 
Mouse. " I am cracking a big one for you as fast 
as I can. There, catch it ! " and he threw a fat 



4i8 Zuni Folk Tales 

nut close to the Cock, who gleefully devoured 
the kernel and, without so much as thanks, called 
for more. 

" Wait, father," said the Mouse. " There ! 
Stand right under me, so. Now, catch it ; this is 
a big one ! " Saying which the Mouse crawled 
out until he was straig-ht over the Cock. " Now, 
then," said he, "watch in front!" and he let fall 
the nut. It hit the Cock on the head so hard that 
it bruised the skin off and stunned the old Tdkdkd 
so that he fell over and died for a short time, 
utterly forgetting. 

"7"^ mi thlo ko thlo kwa !''' shouted the Mouse, 
as he hurried down the tree. " A little waiting, 
and lo ! What my foe would do to me, I to him 
do, indeed ! " Whereupon he ran across, before 
ever the Cock had opened an eye, and gnawed his 
bristles off so short that they never could grow 
again. " There, now ! " said the Mouse. " Lo ! 
thus healed is my heart, and my enemy is even as 
he made me, bereft of distinction ! " Then he ran 
back to his cellar, satisfied. 

Finally the Cock opened his eyes. " Ah me, 
my head ! " he exclaimed. Then, moaning, he 
staggered to his feet, and in doing so he espied 
the nut. It was smooth and round, like a brown 
^ZZ' When the Cock saw it he fell to lamenting 
more loudly than ever : " Oh, my head ! Td-kd- 
kd-kd-d-d ! " But the top of his head kept bleed- 
ing and swelling until it was all covered over with 
welts of gore, and it grew so heavy, withal, that 
the Tdkdkd thought he would surely die. So off 



The Cock and the Mouse 419 

to his grandmother he went, lamenting all the way. 

Hearing him, the grandmother opened the door, 
and cried : " What now ? " 

" Oh, my grandmother, ah me ! I am mur- 
dered ! " he answered. " A great, round, hard 
seed was dropped on my head by a little creature 
with a short, one-feathered tail, who came and told 
me that it was good to eat and — oh ! my head is 
all bleeding and swollen ! By the light of your 
favor, bind my wound for me lest, alas, I 
die!" 

" Served you right ! Why did you leave your 
place, knowing better?" cried the old woman. " I 
will not bind your head unless you give me your 
very bristles of manhood, that you may remember 
your lesson ! " 

" Oh ! take them, grandmother ! " cried the 
Cock ; but when he looked down, alas ! the beard 
of his breast, the glory of his kind, was all gone. 
" Ah me ! ah me ! What shall I do ? " he again 
cried. But the old woman told him that unless he 
brought her at least four bristles she would not 
cure him, and forthwith she shut the door. 

So the poor Cock slowly staggered back toward 
his corral, hoping to find some of the hairs that 
had been gnawed off. As he passed the little 
lodge of his neighbor, the Dog, he caught sight 
of old Wahtsitas fine muzzle-beard. "Ha!" 
thought he. Then he told the Dog his tale, and 
begged of him four hairs — " only four ! " 

" You great, pampered noise-maker, give me 
some bread, then, fine bread, and I will give you 



420 Zuni Folk Tales 

the hairs." Whereupon the Cock thought, and 
went to the house of a Trader of Foodstuffs ; and 
he told him also the tale. 

" Well, then, bring me some wood with which I 
may heat the oven to bake the bread," said the 
Trader of Foodstuffs. 

The Cock went to some Woods near by. " Oh, 
ye Beloved of the Trees, drop me dry branches ! " 
And with this he told the Trees his tale ; but the 
Trees shook their leaves and said : " No rain has 
fallen, and all our branches will soon be dry. Be- 
seech the Waters that they give us drink, then we 
will gladly give you wood." 

Then the Cock went to a Spring near by, — and 
when he saw in it how his head was swollen and he 
found that it was growing harder, he again began 
to lament. 

" What matters ? " murmured the Beloved of the 
Waters. 

Then he told them the tale also. 

" Listen ! " said the Beings of Water. " Long 
have men neglected their duties, and the Beloved 
of the Clouds need payment of due no less than 
ourselves, the Trees, the Food-maker, the Dog, 
and the Old Woman. Behold ! no plumes are set 
about our border ! Now, therefore, pay to them of 
thy feathers — four floating plumes from under thy 
wings — and set them close over us, that, seen in 
our depths from the sky, they will lure the Beloved 
of the Clouds with their rain-laden breaths. Thus 
will our stream-way be replenished and the Trees 
watered, and their Winds in the Trees will drop 



The Cock and the Mouse 421 

thee dead branches wherewith thou mayest make 
payment and all will be well." 

Forthwith the Tdkdkd plucked four of his best 
plumes and set them, one on the northern, one on 
the western, one on the southern, and one on the 
eastern border of the Pool. Then the Winds of 
the Four Quarters began to breathe upon the four 
plumes, and with those Breaths of the Beloved 
came Clouds, and from the Clouds fell Rain, and 
the Trees threw down dry branches, and the Wind 
placed among them Red-top Grass, which is light 
and therefore lightens the load it is among. And 
when the Cock returned and gathered a little bun- 
dle of fagots, lo ! the Red-top made it so light that 
he easily carried it to the Food-maker, who gave 
him bread, for which the Dog gave him four 
bristles, and these he took to the old Grand- 
mother. 

" Ha !" exclaimed she. " Now, child, I will cure 
thee, but thou hast been so long that thy head will 
always be welted and covered with proud-flesh, 
even though healed. Still, it must ever be so. 
Doing right keeps right ; doing wrong makes 
wrong, which, to make right, one must even pay as 
the sick pay those who cure them. Go now, and 
bide whither I bid thee." 

When, after a time, the Cock became well, lo ! 
there were great, flabby, blood-red welts on his 
head and blue marks on his temples where they 
were bruised so sore. Now, listen : 

It is for this reason that ever since that time the 
medicine masters of that people never give cure 



42 2 Zuni Folk Tales 

without pay ; never, for there is no virtue in medi- 
cine of no value. Ever since then cocks have had 
no bristles on their breasts — only little humps where 
they ought to be ; — and they always have blood-red 
crests of meat on their heads. And even when a 
hen lays an egg and a tdkdkd cock sees it, he be- 
gins to td-kd-kd-d as the ancient of them all did 
when he saw the brown nut. And sometimes they 
even pick at and eat these seeds of their own chil- 
dren, especially when they are cracked. 

As for mice, we know how they went into the 
meal-bags in olden times and came out something 
else, and, getting smoked, became tsotJiliko-aJidi, 
with long, bare tails. But that was before the 
Cock cut the tail of the tsothliko Mouse off. Ever 
since he cried in agony: ''Weh tsu yii wehtsu !" 
like a child with a burnt finger, his children have 
been called Wehtsutsukwe, and wander wild in the 
fields ; hence field-mice to this day have short 
tails, brown-stained and hairy ; and their chops are 
all pink, and when you look them in the face they 
seem always to be crying. 

Thus shortens my story. 



THE GIANT CLOUD-SWALLOWER 

A TALE OF CA5I0N DE CHELLY 
Translator's Introduction 

DEEP down in cafions of the Southwest, especially 
where they are joined by other cafions, the traveller 
may see standing forth from or hugging the angles of the 
cliffs, great towering needles of stone — weird, rugged, fan- 
tastic, oftentimes single, as often — like gigantic wind- 
stripped trees with lesser trees standing beside them 
— double or treble. Seen suddenly at a turn in the caflon 
these giant stones startle the gazer with their monstrous 
and human proportions, like giants, indeed, at bay against 
the sheer rock walls, protecting their young, who appear 
anon to crouch at the knees of their fathers or cling to 
their sides. 

Few white men behold these statuesque stones in the 
moonlight, or in the gray light and white mists of the 
morning. At midday they seem dead or asleep while 
standing ; but when the moon is shining above them and 
the wanderer below looks up to them, lo ! the moon stands 
still and these mighty crags start forth, advancing noise- 
lessly. His back is frozen, and even in the yielding sand 
his feet are held fast by terror— a delicious, ghostly terror, 
withal ! Still he gazes fascinated, and as the shadow of 
the moonlight falls toward him over the topmost crest, lo, 
again ! its crown is illumined and circled as if by a halo of 
snow-light, and back and forth from this luminous fillet 
over that high stony brow, black hair seems to tumble and 
gather. 

Again, beheld in the dawn-light, when the mists are ris- 
ing slowly and are waving to and fro around the giddy 

423 



424 Zuni Folk Tales 

columns, hiding the cHffs behind them, these vasjt pinnacles 
seem to nod and to waver or to sway themselves back- 
ward and forward, all as silently as before. Soon, when 
the sun is risen and the mists from below fade away, the 
wind blows more mist from the mesa ; you see clouds of 
it pour from the cliff edge, just behind and above these 
great towers, and shimmer against the bright sky ; but as 
soon as these clouds pass the crag-nests they are lost in 
the sunlight around them — lost so fast, as yet others come 
on, that the stone giants seem to drink them. 

Of such rocks, according to their variety and local sur- 
roundings, the Zunis relate many tales which are so ingeni- 
ous and befitting that if we believed, as the Zuilis do, that 
in the time of creation when all things were young and 
soft and were therefore easily fashioned by whatever 
chanced to befall them — into this thing or that thing, into 
this plant or that plant, this animal or that, and so on end- 
lessly through a dramatic story longer than Shakespeare 
or the Bible — we would fain believe also as he does in the 
quaint incidents of these stories of the time when all things 
were new and the world was becoming as we see it now. 

One of these tales, a variant of others pertaining to par- 
ticular standing rocks in the west, south, or east, is told of 
that wonder to all beholders, " El Capitan," of the Cafton 
de Chelly in the north. No one who has seen this stu- 
pendous rock column can fail to be interested in the fol- 
lowing legend, or will fail to realize how, as this intro- 
duction endeavors to make plainer, the Zuni poet and 
philosopher of olden times built up a story which he verily 
believed quite sufficient to account for the great shaft of 
sandstone and its many details and surroundings. — F. H. C. 

Haki Suto, or Foretop Knot, he whose hair was 
done up over his forehead like a quail's crest, lived 
among the great cliffs of the north long ago, when 
the world was new. He was a giant, so tall that 



The Giant Cloud-swallower 425 

men called him Lo IkwitJiltchu7iotia, or the Cloud- 
swallower. A devourer of men was he, — men were 
his meat — yea, and a drinker of their very substance 
was he, for the cloud-breaths of the beloved gods, 
and souls of the dead, whence descend rains, even 
these were his drink. Wherefore the People of the 
Cliffs sought to slay him, and hero after hero per- 
ished thuswise. Wherefore, too, snow ceased in 
the north and the west ; rain ceased in the south 
and the east ; the mists of the mountains above 
were drunk up ; the waters of the valleys below 
were dried up ; corn withered in the fields ; men 
hungered and died in the cliffs. 

Then came the Twin Gods of War, Ahaiyiita and 
Matsailema, who in play staked the lives of foes 
and fierce creatures. " Lo ! it is not well with our 
children, men," said they. " Let us destroy this 
Haki Suto, the swallower of clouds," said they. 

They were walking along the trail which leads 
southward to the Smooth-rocks-descending. 

" O, grandchildren, where be ye wending?" said 
a little, little quavering voice. They looked, — the 
younger, then the elder. There on the tip of a 
grass-stalk, waving her banner of down-stuff, stood 
their grandmother. Spinner of Meshes. 

" The Spider ! Our Grandmother Spider ! " cried 
one of the gods to the other. " Ho ! grandmother, 
was that you calling ? " shouted they to her. 

" Yea, children ; where wend ye this noon-day ?" 

" A-warring we are going," said they. " Look now ! 

" No beads for to broider your awning 
Have fallen this many a morning." 



426 Zuni Folk Tales 

" Aha, wait ye ! Whom ye seek, verily I know 
him well," said the Spider-woman. 

" Like a tree fallen down from the mountain 
He lies by the side of the cliff-trail 
And feigns to sleep there, yet is wary. 
I will sew up his eyes with my down-cords. 
Then come ye and smite him, grandchildren." 

She ran ahead. There lay Haki Suto, his legs 
over the trail where men journeyed. Great, like 
the trunks and branches of pine trees cast down by 
a wind-storm, were his legs arching over the path- 
way, and when some one chanced to come by, the 
giant would call out : " Good morning ! " and bid 
him "pass right along under." "I am old and 
rheumatic," he would continue, oh, so politely ! 
" Do not mind my rudeness, therefore ; run right 
along under ; never fear, run right along under ! " 
But when the hunter tried to pass, kilutstc ! Haki 
Suto would snatch him up and cast him over the 
cliff to be eaten by the young Forehead-cresters. 

The Spider stepped never so lightly, and climbed 
up behind his great ear, and then busily wove at her 
web, to and fro, up and down, and in and out of his 
eyelashes she busily plied at her web. 

" Pesk the birds and buzz creatures ! " orrowled 
the giant, twitching this way and that his eyebrows, 
which tickled ; but he would not stir, — for he heard 
the War-gods coming, and thought them fat hunters 
and needs must feign sleepy. 

And these ? Ha ! ha ! They begin to sing, as 
was their fearless wont sometimes. Haki Suto 



The Giant Cloud-swallower 427 

never looked, but yawned and drawled as they came 
near, and nearer. " Never mind, my children, pass 
right along under, pass right along under ; I am 
lame and tired this morning," said he. 

Ahaiyvita ran to the left. Matsailema ran to the 
right. Haki Suto sprang up to catch them, but his 
eyes were so blinded with cobwebs that he missed 
them and feigned to fall, crying : " Ouch ! my poor 
back ! my poor back ! Pass right along under, my 
children, it was only a crick in my back. Ouch ! 
Oh, my poor back ! " But they whacked him over 
the head and stomach till he stiffened and died. 
Then shouting " So Jio ! " they shoved him over the 
cliff. 

The Navahos say that the grandmother tied him 
there by the hair — by his topknot — where you see 
the white streaks on the pillar, so they say ; but it 's 
the birds that streak the pillar, and this is the way. 
When Haki Suto fell, his feet drave far into the 
sands, and the Storm-gods rushed in to the aid of 
their children, the War-gods, and drifted his blood- 
bedrenched carcass all over with sand, whence he 
dried and hardened to stone. When the young 
ones saw him falling, they forthwith flocked up to 
devour him, making loud clamor. But the Twain, 
seeing this, made after them too and twisted the 
necks of all save only the tallest (who was caught 
in the sands with his father) and flung them aloft 
to the winds, whereby one became instantly the 
Owl, who twists her head whoHy around whensoever 
she pleases, and stares as though frightened and 
straneled ; and another the Falcon became, who 



428 Zuni Folk Tales 

perches and nests to this day on the crest of his 
sand-covered father, the Giant Cloud-drinker. And 
the Falcons cry ever and ever " ' Tis father ; O 
father ! " ( '' Ti-tdtchu ya-tdtchur ) 

But, fearing that never again would the waters 
refreshen their canons, our ancients who dwelt in 
the cliffs fled away to the southward and eastward 
— all save those who had perished aforetime ; they 
are dead in their homes in the cliff-towns, dried, like 
their cornstalks that died when the rain stopped 
long, long ago, when all things were new. 

Thus shortens my story. 



THE MAIDEN THE SUN MADE LOVE 
TO, AND HER BOYS 

OR, THE ORIGIN OF ANGER 

LET it be about a person who lived in the 
Home of the Eagles (K'iakime), under the 
Mountain of Thunder, that I tell you today. So 
let it be. It was in the ancient, long-forgotten 
times. It was in the very ancient times beyond 
one's guessing. There lived then, in this town, 
the daughter of a great priest-chief, but she had 
never, never, never since she was a little child, 
come forth from the doorway of the house in 
which she dwelt. No one there in that town had 
ever seen her ; even her own townspeople had 
never seen her. 

Now, day after day at noon-time, when the Sun 
stood in the mid-heavens, he would look down 
from the sky through a little window in the roof 
of her house. And he it was who instant was her 
lover, and who, descending upon the luminously 
yellow trail his own rays created, would talk to 
her. And he was her only companion, for she 
knew not her own townspeople, neither had she 
seen them since she was a child. None save only 
her parents ever saw her. 

" Wonder what the cacique's child looks like," 
the people would say to one another. " She never 
comes out ; no one has seen her since she was a 

429 



430 Zuni Folk Tales 

little child." And so at last they schemed to get a 
look at her. One said : " I have it ! Let us have 
a dance for her. Then it may be she will deign to 
come forth." 

The young man who spoke was chief of the 
dances, and why should he not suggest such a 
thing ? So, his friends and followers agreeing, 
they began to make plumes of macaw feathers — 
beautiful plumes they were — for the Plume dance. 
They set a day, and on that day, in the morning, 
they danced, with music and song, in the plaza be- 
fore the house of the great priest-chief where the 
girl lived. They looked along the top of the 
house in vain ; the girl was not there ; only her 
old parents sat on the roof. 

" Oh ! I 'm so thirsty ! " cried the chief of the 
dance, for he it was who wanted to see the orirl. 

" Run right in and get a drink," said the girl's 
old ones. So the young man climbed the ladder 
and went into the first room. There was no water 
there ; then he went into the second room, but 
there was no water there ; then into the third 
room, but still he found no water. He looked all 
around, but saw nothing of the priest-chief's daugh- 
ter. All the same, she was back in the fourth 
room, sitting there just as if no dance were going 
on in the plaza, weaving away at her beautiful 
trays of colored splints. 

Well, the young man went back ; they finished 
their dance, but no one saw anything of the priest- 
chief's daughter ; and when the dancers all re- 
turned to their ceremonial chamber they said to 



The Maiden and the Sun 431 

one another : " Alas ! although we danced for her, 
she came not out to see us ! " 

Now, in reality, the Sun, who was her lover, and 
came down each day on a ray of his own light to 
visit her, loved her so much he would not that she 
should come forth from her house and be seen of 
men. Therefore he set an Eagle upon the house- 
top in a great cage to watch her. He was a very 
wise old Eagle. He could understand every word 
that the people said. And he it was that she fed 
and watered from day to day. Now, the dancers 
in the ceremonial chamber asked : " What shall we 
do?" 

"Why, let us dance again," said the chief of the 
dances, " and if we do not succeed, yet again." 
They did as he said, but with no better success 
than before ; so at last the two Warrior Priests of 
the Bow grew angry, and although they were the 
girl's father's own warriors, they ordered the War- 
rior festival, or Oinahe dance. " Surely," said 
they, " she will come forth, and if not, let her 
perish, for how can she refuse the delight of the 
great Oinahe, where each young man dances and 
masks himself according to his fancy ? " 

So, one nieht the two warriors went out and 
called to the people to make ready and be happy, 
for in four days they should dance the Oinahe. 
When they had done calling, they descended, and 
the people said to one another : " Surely she will 
come out when we dance the 6inahe, for she will 
be delighted with it, and we shall yet see her. 
She was very beautiful when she was a little girl." 



432 Zuni Folk Tales 

Then both of the warriors climbed to the top 
of Thunder Mountain, where Ahaiytita and his 
brother, Matsailema, the Gods of War, and their 
orrandmother lived in the middle of the summit. 
As they approached the presence of the two gods, 
they exclaimed : " She-e I " 

" Hai ! " the gods replied. 

" Our fathers, how is it that ye are, these many 
days ? " they asked, and the Twain replied : " We 
are happy. Come in ; sit down " ; and they placed 
a couple of stools for the warriors. " What is it 
that ye would of us ? " they continued ; " for it 
would be strange if ye came up to our house for 
nothing." 

" True it is," replied the warriors. " It is in our 
hearts as your two chosen children — as the war- 
priests of our nation — that our people should be 
made happy as the days of the year go by ; and 
we therefore think over all the beautiful dances, 
and now and then command that the most fitting 
of them shall appear. Now, our children, the 
people of the Home of the Eagles, are anxious to 
see our child, the daughter of the priest-chief, who 
has not come forth from her house, and whom we 
have never seen since she was a little girl. We have 
thought to order your dance of the Oz'naAe, and 
we would that without fail our daughter should 
be made to come forth or else die ; therefore, our 
fathers, we have come to consult ye and to ask 
your advice." 

" Aha ! " cried the Twain. " Then ye are 
anxious that this should be, are ye ? " 



The Maiden and the Sun 433 

"Yes," they replied. 

" Well, it shall come to pass as ye wish it, and 
the girl must die if she come not forth at the bid- 
ding^ of the Oinahe ! " 

" Aha ! " ejaculated they both. " Thanks ! " 

" Yea, it shall be as ye wish. Make our days 
for us — name the times for preparation, and we 
shall be with ye to lead the Oinahe. The first 
time our dance will come forth, and the second 
time our dance will come forth, and the third time 
our dance will come forth, but the fourth time 
our dance comes forth, it will happen as ye wish 
it. It will certainly be finished as ye wish it. 

" Well ! Thanks ; we go ! " (good-by). 

" Go ye," said the gods to their children ; and 
they went. 

The Eagle was very unhappy with all this. He 
knew it all, for he understood everything that was 
said. Next morning he hung his head at the 
window with great sadness ; so the girl, after she 
had eaten her morning meal, took some dainty 
bits to the window and said : " Why are you so 
unhappy ? See, I have brought you some food. 
Eat ! " 

" I will not eat ; I cannot eat," replied the Eagle. 

" Why not ? " asked she. " I will not harm 
you ; I am happy ; I love you just as much as 
ever." 

" Alas, alas ! my mother," said the Eagle. " It 
is not with thoughts of myself that I am unhappy, 
but your father's two war-priests are anxious 
that their children shall be made happy, and their 



434 Zuni Folk Tales 

children, the people of our town under the 
mountain, are longing to see you. They have said 
to one another that you never come forth ; they 
have never seen you. Therefore they have or- 
dered the Oinake, that you may be tempted out. 
They went up to the home of Ahaiyuta and his 
younger brother, where they live with their grand- 
mother, on the top of Thunder Mountain, and the 
two gods have said to them: "It shall come to 
pass as ye wish it." Therefore they will dance, 
and on the fourth day of their dancing it shall 
come to pass as they wish it. Indeed, it shall hap- 
pen, my poor mother, that you shall be no more. 
Alas ! I can do nothing ; you can do nothing ; why 
should I tarry longer with you ? You must loosen 
my bonds and let me free." 

" As you like," said the girl. " I suppose it must 
be as you say." Then she loosened the Eagle's 
bonds, and, straight as the pathway of an arrow, 
away he flew upward into the sky — even toward 
the zenith where the Sun rested at noon-time, and 
whither he soon arrived himself. 

"Thou comest," said the Sun. 

" I do, my father. How art thou these many 
days ? " said the Eagle to the Sun. 

" Happy. Here, sit down." There was a blanket 
already placed for him, and thereupon he sat ; but 
he never looked to the right nor to the left, nor yet 
about the Sun-father's splendid home. He said 
not a word. He only drooped his head, so sad 
was he. 

" What is it, my child ? " asked the Sun. " I 



The Maiden and the Sun 435 

suppose thou hast some errand, else why shouldst 
thou come -^ Surely it is not for nothing that thou 
wouldst come so far to see me." 

" Quite true," answered the Eagle. " Alas ! my 
child ; alas, my mother ! Day after day down in 
the home under the mountain the people dance 
that they may tempt her forth ; yet she has never 
appeared. So her father's war-priests are angry 
and have at last been to see the Twain in their 
home on Thunder Mountain, and the Twain have 
commanded that soon it shall come to pass as the 
people wish or that our beautiful maiden shall per- 
ish. Even tomorrow it shall be ; so have the 
Twain said ; and when the fourth dance comes out 
it shall come to pass, and our beautiful maiden 
shall be no more ; thus have the Twain said. I 
cannot enrich my mother, the daughter of the priest- 
chief, thy beautiful child, with words of advice, with 
aid of mine own will ; hence come I unto thee. 
What shall I do ? " 

"Whatshalt thou do?" repeated the Sun. "I 
know it is all as thou hast said. Know I not all 
these things ? The Twain, whose powers are sur- 
passed only by mine own, ' have they not com- 
manded that it shall be ? What shalt thou do but 
descend at once ? Tell her to bathe herself and 
put on her finest garments tomorrow morning. 
Then, when the time comes, mount her upon thy 
shoulders and bear her up to me. Only possibly 
thou wilt have the great good fortune to reach my 
house with her. Possibly in thy journey hither it 
shall come to be, alas ! as the Twain have said ; for 



436 Zuni Folk Tales 

have not they said it should be, and are they not 
above all things else powerful ? " 

" Well, we '11 try to come." 

" But I will watch thee when thou art about to 
reach the mid-heavens." 

"Well, I go," said the Eagle, rising. 

" Very well," responded the Sun ; " happily may- 
est thou journey." And the Eagle began to de- 
scend. 

Meanwhile the daughter of the priest-chief 
opened the sky-hole and placed a sacred medicine- 
bowl half full of water on the floor where the sun- 
light would shine into it, and where it would reflect 
the sky, and there she sat looking intently down 
into the water. By-and-by the Eagle came in 
sight, and she saw his shadow in the water. 

Just then the Sun drew his shield from his 
face. Oh ! how hot it was down there on the 
earth. The sky was ablaze with light, and no one 
dared to look at it ; and the sands grew so hot that 
they burned the moccasins of those who walked 
upon them. Everybody ran into the houses, and 
the Eagle spread his wings and gently descended, 
for he too was hot. And when he came near to 
the house, the girl let him in and welcomed him. 

" Thou comest, father," said she. 

He only drooped his head and flapped his wings, 
unable even to speak, so hot was he. 

She saw that he was near to faintingf. There- 
fore she fanned him — made cool wind for him with 
the basket tray and her mantle — and sprinkled cold 
water upon his head. 



The Maiden and the Sun 437 

"Thou hast been to the home of our father?" 
she asked, when he had recovered. 

" Yes," repHed the Eagle. 

" What has he advised that we should do ? " 
asked she. 

" This," said the Eagle ; " tomorrow morning at 
the dawn of day thou wilt arise and bathe thyself. 
Then at sunrise thou shalt put on thy finest gar- 
ments. The dance will come forth ; and then it 
will come forth the second time, and the third time, 
and again it will come the fourth time. Then I 
will mount thee upon my shoulders and bear thee 
away toward the Sun, who will be waiting for us. 
It may be that we shall have the good fortune to 
reach his home ; and it may be that we shall get 
only a little way when everything shall come to 
pass unhappily and thou wilt be no more." That 
is what he said to her. 

It grew night. The girl collected all the basket- 
trays that she had made for her father's sacred 
plumes ; these by the fire-light she spread out, and 
then began to divide them into different heaps. 

Now, her parents, who were sitting in the next 
room, heard her until it was late at night, and they 
said to each other : *' Wonder what it is that keeps 
our daughter up?" So the old priest-chief arose 
and entered her room. 

" My child, art thou not at rest yet ?" asked he. 

" No," replied she. " I am dividing the trays I 
have made for thee. '* These," said she, pointing 
to a heap of yellow ones, " shall pertain to the 
north-land ; these, the blue, to the west-land ; the 



43^ Zuni Folk Tales 

red to the land of the south, the white to the east, 
the variegated to the upper regions, and the black 
to the regions below. For tomorrow, beloved 
father, thou shalt see me no more." 

"It is well," said the father, for he was a great 
priest and knew the will of the gods, and to this he 
always said : " It is well. What, therefore, should 
I say ? " So the old man left her. 

Then as morning approached she bathed herself. 
And the Eagle, looking down, said : " My child, my 
mother, lie down and rest thyself, for we are about 
to undertake a long journey. Never fear ; I will 
wake thee at the right time." So she lay down 
and slept. The Eagle perched himself above her 
and watched for the dawn. 

By-and-by the great star arose. Then he knew 
that the Sun would soon follow it, and he said : 
" Mother, arise ! dress thyself, for the time is near 
at hand." 

Outside on the house-tops called the two war- 
priests to their children : 

" Hasten, hasten ! Prepare for the dance ! 
Hasten, hasten ! Eat for the dance ! 
Hasten, hasten, our children all ! " 

Then the girl went into another room and 
brought forth her finest dresses, and these, gar- 
ment after garment, she put on — not one dress, 
but many. Upon her shoulders she placed four 
mantles of snow-white embroidered cotton. Then 
she said to the Eagle : " Wait a moment ; I have 
yet to think of our children in the Home of the 



The Maiden and the Sun 439 

Eagles." Therefore she brought forth her basket- 
bowls of fine meal with which she had been accus- 
tomed to powder her face. There was meal of the 
yellow corn, the blue corn-meal, the red corn-meal, 
the white corn-meal, the speckled corn-meal, and 
the black corn-meal. " See," said she, as she re- 
garded the various vessels of meal ; " my children, 
by means of these shall ye beautify flesh ; by 
means of these be precious against evil ; by means 
of these shall ye finish preciously your roads of 
life. I am to be no more. Far off and to an 
unknown region go I. Possibly I may reach it, 
and live ; probably not reach it, and die. These 
do I leave as your inheritance. My children, 
good-by." ^ 

Then the Eagle descended. The drum began 
to sound outside ; the dance was coming — for the 
first time, mind you, not the fourth. Then said 
the Eagle, as he lowered himself : " Place thyself 
upon my back ; grasp me by the shoulders." And 
the girl did as she was bidden. She reclined her- 
self lengthwise on the back of the Eagle, and 
grasped with her left hand his shoulders. " Now, 
place one foot on one of my thighs and the other 
on the other." She placed one foot on one of his 
thighs and the other on the other ; and the Eagle 
spread his tail and raised it that she might not fall 
off. "All ready?" asked he, as the drum of the 
cominof dance sounded outside. 

" Yes," said the girl ; and they arose. 

"Open the wicket!" and shoa ! the Eagle 

' The maiden here addresses mankind generally. 



440 Zuni Folk Tales 

spread his wings and away off up into the sky he 
sprang with the maiden. Round and round, 
round and round, they circled in the sky, but those 
below saw nothing as they danced in the shadows 
of the great houses. The dancers retired. Then 
they came forth again. Again they retired and 
came forth. Then the girl said : " Father, slower. 
Let me sing a farewell song to my people, my 
children of Earth, that they may know I am 
going." 

The Eagle spread his wings and sailed gently 
through the air as the maiden sang. Then the 
people in the plaza below heard the song, and 
said : " Alas, alas ! ye Twain ! " said they to the 
two gods who led the dance. " Our mother, our 
child, away off through the skies goes she ! Ye 
are fools that ye have let her escape and deceive 
us !" 

Some listened to the song and learned it. 
Others did not. For the third time the dancers 
came forth. " Once more have we to dance," said 
the two gods. " Where are they now ? " 

"In the mid-heavens," said the people. 

" Take it easily, my child," said the Eagle. 
" Once more are they to come forth. Possibly we 
will yet have the great good fortune to reach the 
home of our father." And they sped along through 
the air, nearer and nearer to the home of the Sun- 
father, while the dancers below danced harder and 
harder — many so joyful that they listened not to 
the complainings of the people around, but danced 
only more vigorously. 



The Maiden and the Sun 44^ 

Then the dancers retired and came out for the 
fourth and last time. In the van danced the two 
gods, their faces blackened with the paint of war, 
their hands bearintr bows and arrows with which to 
destroy the daughter of the priest-chief. 

Yes, they were almost there. Now, the Eagle's 
heart was high with hope. When the two gods 
below reached the center of the plaza they turned 
to the people and asked : " Where are they ? 
Where have they gone?" * 

" There they are in the skies — almost there," re- 
plied the people. 

"Humph!" responded the gods. "Suppose 
they are almost there ; they shall never reach the 
home of our father ! " 

" Now, then, hurry, brother younger ! " exclaimed 
the elder; "with which hand wilt thou draw the 
arrow ? " 

" With thy hand, my right," said the younger. 

" Very well ; with thy hand, my left," said the 
elder. ^ 

So they drew their medicine-pointed arrows to 
the heads. Tsi-ni-i-i ! sang the arrows as they shot 
through the air. Soon they reached the home of 
the Sun, crossed one another over his face, and shot 
downward more swiftly than ever toward the com- 
ing Eagle and the maiden. " Alas ! my mother, my 
child," said the Sun as the arrows flew past him and 

' The twin children of the Sun were, in the days of creation, the benignant 
guardians of men ; but when the world became filled with envy and war, 
they were changed by the eight gods of the storms into warriors more 
powerful than all monsters, gods, or men. The elder one was right-handed, 
the younger, left-handed ; hence the form of expression here used. 



442 Zuni Folk Tales 

from him, "thou art no more." And the arrows 
shot downward on their course. 

Tsook ! sang the arrow of the elder god as it 
pierced the back of the girl and entered her heart. 
Tso-ko ! sang the arrow of the younger as it struck 
in the middle of her back. 

" Alas ! my mother, my mother," cried the Eagle, 
" it is over, alas, alas ! " said he, as she released her 
hold, and, fainting, he left her to fall through the 
air. Over and over, this way and that, fell the 
beautiful maiden ; and as the people strained their 
eyes, nearer and nearer to the town neath the moun- 
tain she fell. Soon, over and over, this way and 
that, she came falling even with the top of the 
mountain. 

Then the people rushed past one another out of 
the plaza toward the place where they thought she 
would strike. And just over there below the Home 
of the Eagles, where the Waters of the Coyote gush 
forth from the cliff-base, fell the beautiful maiden. 

Then there were born twin children — two wee 
infants who rolled off into the rubbish and were 
concealed under sticks and stones. 

Down rushed the people, and an Acoma specta- 
tor seized her body. "Mine!" cried he, trium- 
phantly, as he raised the body above him. 

" Thine ! " cried the people, for they had lost the 
beautiful maiden. 

" Ours ! " cried the Acomas, one to another, who 
had come to witness the dances. " Great good for- 
tune this day has smiled on us." And they bore 
her body away to their pueblo in the east. 



The Maiden and the Sun 443 

Now, under the other end of Thunder Mountain 
was the home of the Badgers, and an old Badger 
who lived there was out hunting. After the people 
had again gathered in the city, he passed near the 
Waters of the Coyote and heard the voices of the 
infants crying among the rubbish. 

" Ah ! " said he, " I hear the cry of children. My 
little boys, my little girls," cried he, " whichever ye 
may be " ; and he hastily searched and found them 
where they were rolling about and crying among 
the refuse. " Twins !" cried he. "Boys! Some- 
body has left them here. Soon he will come back 
to reclaim them. Let me walk away for a few 
moments." 

So he walked all around, but found no traces of 
the parents, only the tracks of many men who had 
gathered near. 

" Mine ! " said he, as he trotted back ; and with 
soft grass he rubbed them till they were free from 
the mud and refuse. " Thanks, thanks ! Splendid ! 
Children have I, and boys at that, and when I am 
older grown they will take from me the cares of the 
chase. Goodness ! Thanks ! Nothing but boys shall 
be my children ! " So he rubbed them dry and 
clean with more soft grass, and they stopped crying. 
Then he took some dry grass and made a bundle 
and put them in it, and started off for his home in 
the Red Hills. 

The old Badger-woman was up on top of their 
house looking around, running back and forth and 
jumping in and out of her doorway. " Hai ! " said 
she ; " thou comest ? " 



444 Zuni Folk Tales 

"Yes, hurry!" said the old Badger. "Come 
down and meet me." 

" What have you ?" asked the Badger-woman, as 
she ran down to meet him. 

"What have I," said the old Badger, "but a 
couple of wee little children ! Here, take them 
and carry them up to the house." 

So the old woman took the bundle of grass and 
opened it and began to fondle the children. " O 
my poor little children ; poor little babes ! " said she. 

" Ah ! stop playing with them and hurry along ! " 
commanded the old Badeer. 

So the old woman hurried up to their doorway 
as fast as possible and ran in. The old Badger fol- 
lowed, and she said to him : " Where in the world 
did you get these little children ?" 

" Why," replied he, " I had the greatest luck in 
the world. I was out hunting, you know, and found 
these two little fellows down in Coyote Canon, just 
this side of those men's houses. They 're boys, both 
of them. When they grow up, old wife, perhaps 
they can hunt for us, and then I shall rest myself 
from the labors of the hunt, with plenty of meat for 
you and me every day of the year. What are you 
standing there for ? " said he. " Why don't you go 
and get them something to eat and make them a 
bed ? " 

" Oh, yes ! " responded the old woman. " My poor 
little children ! " So she made a little nest at the 
bottom of the hole and laid them on it. Then she 
ran and fetched some green-corn ears and, picking 
the kernels off, made some gruel of them, and fed 



The Maiden and the Sun 445 

the little fellows. So the boy babies ate till they 
kicked their heels with satisfaction, and that night 
the old Badofer-mother took one in her arms and 
slept with it, and the old Badger-father slept with 
the other. 

Now, every day they grew as much as the chil- 
dren of men do in a year, so that in eight days they 
were as large and knew as much as children usually 
do in eight years. There was no little animal that 
they could not kill unfailingly, for they were the 
children of the Sun, you know. But, alas ! they 
grew weary of killing birds around their doorway, 
and their old father kept telling them every morning 
never to go out of sight of their house ; and the old 
woman kept watching them always for fear that they 
would run off and get lost, or somebody would find 
and claim them. Yes, they grew impatient of this. 
They wanted to kill prairie-dogs and cottontails, but 
they could not get near enough to them. So one 
night when the old Badger came home they said 
to him : " Father, come now ; do make us some bows 
and arrows so that we can hunt rabbits, and you 
and mother can have all that you want to eat." 

" All right," replied the old man. And the next 
day he went off to the Canon of the Woods, and 
somehow he managed to cut down a small oak and 
get a lot of branches for arrows. He brought these 
home, and that night with a piece of fiint, little by 
little he managed to make each of the boys a bow 
and some arrows. But when he tried to put feath- 
ers on the arrows he was very awkward (for you 
know badgers don't have fingers like men), so he 



446 Zuni Folk Tales 

had to take a single feather for each arrow and split 
it and twist it around the butt of the shaft. That 
very night, do you know, it snowed ; yes, a great 
deal of snow fell, and the little fellows looked out 
and said to each other and to the old Badeers : 
** Now then, tomorrow we will go rabbit-hunting." 

" O mother, make a lunch for us ! " they ex- 
claimed. 

" Where are you going?" asked the old woman. 

" We are going out among the hills and down on 
the plains where the trees grow, to hunt rabbits." 

" O my poor little boys ! What will you do ? 
— you will freeze to death, for you have no clothes 
and no wool grows on your backs." 

" Well, mother, we 're tough. We will get up to- 
morrow and wait until the sun shines warm — then 
we can gfo huntinof." 

"How in the world will you carry your food? 
You have no blanket to wrap it in." 

" Oh, you just make some corn-cakes, " answered 
the boys, " and string them on a little stick, and 
we can take hold of the middle of the stick and 
carry them just as well as not." 

Hi-ta ! " cried the old woman. " Listen, father." 
So she made the corn-cakes and strung them on 
little sticks, and the two boys went to bed. But 
they could n't sleep very well, being so impatient to 
go hunting rabbits, and they kept waking each 
other and peeping out to see how long it would be 
before daylight. 

In the morning the old Badger got up early and 
collected a lot of bark which he rubbed until it 



The Maiden and the Sun 447 

was soft, and then he wove the boys each a curious 
pair of moccasins that would come half-way up to 
the knees. So the elder brother put on his moc- 
casins and ran out into the snow. " U-kzuatchi / " 
exclaimed he. " First rate ! " So the other little 
boy put on his bark moccasins, and they took their 
strings of corn-cakes and bows and arrows, and 
started off as fast as they could. Well, they went 
off amone the hills at the foot of Thunder Moun- 
tain. It was only a little while ere they struck a rab- 
bit trail, and the first arrow they shot killed the 
rabbit. So they kept on hunting until they had a 
large number of rabbits and began to get tired. 
Although there was snow on the ground, the sun 
was very warm, so they soon forgot all about it 
until they began to grow hungry, and then they 
looked up and saw that it was noon-time, because 
the sun was resting in the mid-heavens. So they 
went up on top of a high hill, and carried their 
rabbits there one by one, to find a place where 
the snow was shallow. Here they brushed a 
space clear of the snow, and, depositing the rab- 
bits, sat down to eat their corn-cakes, which they 
laid on a bundle of grass. While they sat there 
eating, the Sun looked down and pitied his two 
poor little children. " Wait a bit," said he to him- 
self, " I '11 go down and talk to the little fellows, 
and help them." So by his will alone he descended, 
and lo ! he stood there on the earth just a little way 
from the two boys, — grand, beautiful, sublime. 
Upon his body were garments of embroidered cot- 
ton ; fringed leggings covered his knees, and he 



448 Zuni Folk Tales 

was girt with many-colored girdles ; buckskins of 
bright leather protected his feet ; bracelets and 
strings of wampum ornamented his neck and arms ; 
turquoise earrings hung from his ears ; beautiful 
plumes waved over his head ; his long, glossy hair 
was held with cords of many colors, into which 
great plumes of macaw feathers were stuck. Fear- 
ful, wonderful, beautiful, he stood. Suddenly one 
of the boys looked up and saw the Sun-father 
standing there. 

" Blood !" cried he to the other. '' AH ! Some- 
body 's coming ! " 

" Where ? " asked the other. " Where ? " 

" Right over there ! " 

'^Atz/" he exclaimed. 

Then the Sun, with stately step, approached 
them, dazzling their eyes with his beauty and his 
magnificent dress. So the poor little fellows hud- 
dled together and crouched their knees close to 
their bodies (for they had no clothes on), and 
watched him, trembling, until he came near. Then 
one of them said faintly: " Comest thou?" as 
though he just remembered it. 

"Yea, I do, my children," said the Sun. " How 
are ye these many days ? " 

" Happy," responded they ; but they were almost 
frightened out of their wits, and kept looking first 
at the Sun-father and then at each other. 

" My children," said the Sun-father tenderly, 
"ye are my own children; I gave ye both life." 
But they only gazed at him, not believing what he 
said. 



The Maiden and the Sun 449 

" Ye are both mine own children," he repeated. 

" Is that so ? " replied they. 

" Yea, that is true ; and I saw ye here, and pitied 
ye ; so I came to speak with ye and to help ye." 

'' Hat !'' exclaimed they. But they still looked 
at each other and at the Sun-father, and did not 
believe him. 

" Yea, ye are verily my children," continued the 
Sun. " I am your own father. Around Thunder 
Mountain there is a city of men. It is called the 
Home of the Eagles, and there once lived a beau- 
tiful maiden who never left her home, but was 
always shut in her room. Day after day at mid- 
day, just at this time, I came down and visited her 
in my own sunlight. And a great Eagle always 
stood and watched her. Now, the townspeople 
grew anxious to see her, so they danced day after 
day their most beautiful dances, hoping to entice 
her to come forth ; but she never looked out. So 
her father's warriors went to the home of Ahaiyuta 
and his younger brother, Matsailema, where they 
lived with their grandmother, on the middle of 
Thunder Mountain, and the Twain said that they 
would go with them and compel her to come forth. 
Therefore, one day they went and led the dance 
of the Oinahe. Yet, although they danced four 
times, she would not come forth, but tried to 
escape to my home in the heavens on the back of 
her Eagle ; so the two gods shot her, and she fell 
down the canon. Then it was that ye two, my 
children, were born and rolled amoncr the bushes. 
Now, the people ran down from the village to 



450 Zuni Folk Tales 

strive for your mother's body, and an Acoma got 
her and carried her away to the home of his 
people. An old Badger found ye and brought ye 
home to his wife, and that is the way ye came to 
live in the home of the Badgers." 

Still the little ones did not believe him. 

" Look ! " said the Sun-father. " See what I 
have brought ye ! " Then he continued : " Wait ; 
in eight days, in the Home of the Eagles, where 
your aunts live in the house of your mother's' 
father, there will be a great dance. Go ye thither. 
Ye will climb up a crooked path and enter the 
town throuo-h a road under the houses. Do not 
go out at once into the plaza, but wait until the 
dancers come out. Then step forth, and over to 
the left of the plaza ye will see your grandfather's 
house. It is the greatest house in the city, and 
the longest ladder leads up to it, and fringes of 
hair ornament its poles. On the roof ye will see, 
if the day be warm, two noisy macaws, and there 
ye will see your mother's sisters — your own aunts. 
When ye go into the plaza the people will rush up 
to ye and say : ' Whither do ye come, friends ? 
Will ye not join in the dance ? ' And ye must say 
ye will, and then your aunts will come down and 
dance for the first time, because they are the most 
beautiful maidens in the pueblo, and very proud. 
But they will take hold of your hands and dance 
with ye, and when they have done will ask ye to 
come into their house ; and ye must go. 

" Now, the one who sits over in the northern 
corner is the first sister of your mother, therefore 



The Maiden and the Sun 451 

your mother ; and the one who sits next to her is 
your next mother, and so on. There will be eight 
of them, and the youngest will be like a sister unto 
ye. They will place stools for ye, and ye must sit 
down and call them aunts. They will say : ' Cer- 
tainly, we are the aunts of all good boys in the 
cities of men who are not our enemies.' And 
then ye must tell them that they are your real 
aunts, that this is your house, that your mother 
used to live there — was the maiden who never 
went out, but always sat making beautiful basket- 
trays of many-colored splints. Then ye must lead 
them into the next room, and the next, and then 
into the next one, and point to the beautiful bas- 
ket-trays on the walls. There on the northern 
wall will hang a yellow tray, on the west wall will 
hang a blue one, and on the south wall, a red tray , 
then on the east wall will hang a white tray, and 
fastened to the ceiling will be a tray of many 
colors, while a black one will stand under the floor. 
And then ye must point to the trays and say : 
' These our mother made.' Then they will believe 
and embrace ye and will not want to let ye go ; 
but after ye have sat and eaten with them, ye 
must come back to the home of the Bado^ers. 
And the next day ye must go to Acoma to get 
your mother. Just before ye arrive at the town of 
Acoma ye will meet an old, wrinkled hag carrying 
a big bundle of wood on her back. Ye must 
call her 'grandmother' and greet her pleasantly. 
She will tell ye she is the dance-priestess of 
Acoma. Then ye must ask her why she, a woman, 



452 Zuni Folk Tales 

comes out to gather wood, and she will reply that 
she gets the wood to make a light. Then ask her 
why she wishes a light, and she will say to ye that 
day after day she lights a fire in her ceremonial 
chamber and that when she reaches home with her 
wood the young men of her clan come together 
and give her food, and that at night she takes the 
wood to the ceremonial chamber and then sits on 
a stone seat by the side of the fireplace and builds 
a fire ; that the young men gather in the chamber 
and prepare for a dance. And when they are ready 
she takes the bones of your mother from a niche in 
the west end of the chamber and distributes them 
among the young men, who carry them in the dance. 
She gives the skull to the first one, the breast-bone 
to the next, the ribs to another, and so on until they 
all have bones to carry in the dance. When the 
dance is over, she goes around and takes all the 
bones back again and replaces them in the niche. 
Then the young men depart for their homes, but 
some of them sleep there in the chamber, and then 
she lies down to sleep and to keep guard over the 
bones. 

" Now, when she has told ye these things, ye 
must ask her if that is all. If she says 'Yes,' kill 
her ; then skin her, and the younger brother must 
wave his hands over her skin and put it on, and 
he will look just like the old woman. And he 
must climb up to the town of the Acomas and 
enter and do just as the old woman said that she 
did. 

" Now, after the dance is over and he has taken 



The Maiden and the Sun 453 

back all of the bones and replaced them in the 
niche, he must lie down and pretend to sleep, and 
some of the young men will go home ; others will 
sleep there. When they all begin to snore, he must 
gather all the bones, and the two dried eyes, and 
the heart of his mother, and bring them away as 
fast as ever he can to where his brother waits. 
And when he gets there, — lo ! she will come to life 
again and be just as she was before she was killed 
by the Twain. Now, mind, ye must not leave a 
single bone nor any part, for if ye do, your 
mother will lack that when she comes to life 
again." 

"Very well," replied the boys, "we will do as 
you have told us ; certainly we will." 

" Now, I have given ye with your birth the 
power to slay all game ; but mind that not a single 
rabbit, nor deer, nor antelope, nor mountain sheep, 
nor elk — though he be the finest ye have ever 
seen — shall ye slay, for in that case ye shall perish 
with your mother." 

So the two boys promised they would not. 
" Of course we will not," said the younger brother. 
"When one's father commands him, can he 
disobey ? " 

"Come hither," said the Sun-father to the 
younger brother. "Stand here." So the little 
boy did as he was bidden. 

" Lift up thy foot." Then the Sun-father drew 
ofT the moccasin of bark and put beautiful fringed 
leggings upon it, and replaced the bark moccasins 
with buskins like his own, and tied up the leggings 



454 Zuni Folk Tales 

with many-colored garters, and dressed him as he 
was dressed, and placed a beautiful quiver upon 
his back. But the poor little boys were dark- 
colored, and their hair was tangled and matted 
over their heads. Then the Sun-father turned 
himself about as if to summon some unseen mes- 
senger, and created a great warm cloud of mist, 
with which he cleansed the boys, and lo ! their 
skins became smooth and clear, and their hair fell 
down their backs in wavy masses. Then the Sun- 
father arranged the younger brother's hair and 
placed a plume therein like his own, and beautiful 
plumes on his head. 

"There," said he to the elder; "look at thy 
younger brother." But the poor little fellow was 
covered with shame, and dared only steal glances 
at his brother and the Sun-father. Then the Sun- 
father dressed the other like the first. 

"Tz/" exclaimed they, as they looked at each 
other and at the Sun-father. 

"You are just like Him," they said to each 
other. But still they did not call him father. 
Then they fell to conversing. 

" Why ; he must be our father ! " said they to 
each other. " Mother's face has a black streak 
right down the middle of it, and father's face is 
just like it, except that his chin is grizzly." Then 
they knew that the Sun was their father, and they 
thanked him for his goodness. 

Then said the Sun-father to them : " Mind what 
I have told ye, my children. I must go to my 
home in the heavens. Happy may ye always be. 



The Maiden and the Sun 455 

Ye are my children ; I love ye, and therefore I 
came to help ye. Run home, now, for your 
father and mother who reared ye — the Badgers — 
are awaiting your coming. They will not know 
ye, so ye must roll up your bark moccasins and 
take along your strings of corn-cakes together with 
the rabbits ye have slain." 

"How can we carry them?" asked they; "for 
they are heavy." 

Then the Sun-father turned about and passed 
his hands gently over the heap of dead rabbits. 
" Lift them now," said he to the children ; and 
when they tried to lift them, lo ! they were as 
light as dry grass-stalks. So they bade their 
father farewell and started home. When they 
had gone a little way they stopped to look around, 
but their father was nowhere to be seen. 

Sure enough, when they neared home there were 
the two old Badgers running around their hole, 
and the old Badger-father was just getting ready 
to go out and search, for fear that they had per- 
ished from cold. He had just gone down to get 
some rabbit-skins and other things with which to 
wrap them, when the old woman, who was up 
above, shouted down : " Hurry, come out ! Some- 
body is coming ! " 

" Look ! " said one of the children to the other. 
" There 's our poor mother waiting for us. Hurry 
up ! Let 's run, or else our father will come out 
searching for us." 

As they approached they called out : " Poor 
mother, here you are in the cold waiting for us." 



45^ Zuni Folk Tales 

But she did not recognize them, and only hid her 
face in her paws from shame, for they were too 
beautiful to look upon — just like the Sun-father. 

" Don't you know us, mother ? " asked the Two 
to the old woman just as the old Badger came out. 

" No ! " answered she. 

" Why, we are your children ! " 

" Ah ! my children did not look like you ! " 

" We are they ! Look here ! " said they, and they 
showed the bark moccasins and the strings of corn- 
cakes. 

" Our poor children ! " 

" Yes, our father is no other than the Sun-father, 
and he came down to speak to us today, and he 
dressed us as you see, just like himself, and he said 
that our mother used to live over in the Home 
of the Eagles, that our aunts still live there, and 
our grandfather, and that our mother used to live 
there, but the Twain killed her as she was trying 
to escape on the back of an Eagle. And when she 
fell into the Canon of the Coyote we were born, 
and father here found us and you both reared us." 

" Yes, that is very true," said the old Badger. 
" I know it all ; and I know, too, that there will be 
a dance at the Home of the Eagles in eight days. 
Tomorrow there will be only seven left, and when 
the eighth day comes you will both go there to see 
it. Come up and come down," said they. 

So the two entered, but they were ill at ease in 
their clothes, which they were not used to. And 
when the old mother had placed soft rabbit-skins 
on the floor, they doffed their clothing and care- 



The Maiden and the Sun 457 

fully laid it away. Then the whole family ate 
their evening meal. 

" Keep count for us, father, and when the time 
comes, let us know," said the boys. 

So the days passed by until the day before the 
dance, and that morning the old Badger said to 
the Two : " Tomorrow the dance will come." 

" Very well," replied they ; " let us go out and 
hunt today, that you and mother may have some- 
thing to eat." So they went forth, and in the 
evening came back with great numbers of rabbits ; 
and the old mother skinned the rabbits and put 
some of them to cook over night, so that her chil- 
dren miofht eat before startinor for the town under 
Thunder Mountain. 

At sunrise next morning both dressed themselves 
carefully, put on their plumes, and started on the 
pathway that leads around the mountain. They 
passed the village of K'yatik'ia on their way, and 
the people marvelled greatly at their beauty and 
their magnificent dress. And so they followed the 
road through the Canon of the Coyotes, thence 
by the crooked pathway and the covered road 
under the house into the court of K'iakime. Just 
as the Sun-father had told them, they found every- 
thing there. There was the orreat house with the 
tall ladder and the two macaws, and there were the 
young maidens, their aunts, sitting on the house- 
top. 

And as the dancers came into the court they 
stepped forward, and then it was that the people 
first saw and hailed them. The chief of the dance 



45^ Zuni Folk Tales 

came forward and asked them whither they came 
and if they would not join in the dance. So they 
assented and came forward to the center of the 
plaza, and as they began to dance, the young girls 
arose and the dance chiefs went and escorted them 
to the dance plaza. 

Although they told them, " Dance here," they 
did not obey. They ran right over to where the 
two young men were dancing, and took hold of 
their hands just as the Sun-father had told them it 
would come to pass. And, in fact, everything 
happened just as he had said. Yes, they all ran 
down and grasped the two boys' hands, and when 
the dance was over and they let go, they said to 
the two handsome young strangers : " Come up ; 
come in." 

" It is well," said the two young men. So they 
all went up into the house and sat down. Now, 
all these girls were young, and they were very 
much pleased with the young men. In fact the 
two youngest were in love with them already ; so 
they smiled and made themselves very pleasant. 
Then the first brother arose and went over to the 
eldest one, and said : " Mother-aunt." 

" What is it ? " she replied, " for of course through- 
out the cities of men we, as the daughters of a 
great priest, are the mothers of children," — and 
so on until they came to the last and youngest one, 
whom they called " little mother-aunt," and she 
also replied that, however young they might be, 
still they might be counted the mothers of the 
children of men. 



The Maiden and the Sun 459 

" No, verily, ye are our parents," replied the 
Twain. " Beyond this room is another, and beyond 
that another, and beyond that yet another where 
Hved our mother, who never went forth from her 
house, but sat day after day making sacred trays. 
And there even now, according to the colors of 
the parts of the world hang her trays on the wall." 

And so, as the Sun had told them, they finished 
their story. Then the people were convinced, and 
sent for the grandfather, the great priest-chief, 
and when he came they all embraced their new 
children, admiring greatly their straight, smooth 
limbs and abundant hair. Then the grandfather 
dressed them in some of the beautiful ornaments 
their mother used to wear, and when evening 
approached they feasted them. And after the 
meal was over, as the Sun was setting, the two 
boys arose and said, " We must go." 

"Stay with us, stay with us," the young girls 
and the grandfather said. " Why should you go 
away from your home ? This is your own 
home." 

" No ; we said to our mother and father, the 
Badgers, that we would return to them ; therefore 
we must go," urged the boys. So at last they 
consented and wished them a happy journey. 

" Fear not," said the Two as they started, " for 
we shall yet go and get our mother. Even tomor- 
row we shall go to Acoma where the people dance 
day after day in her memory." Then they de- 
parted and returned to the place of the Badgers. 

When they arrived at home, sure enough, there 



4^0 Zuni Folk Tales 

were their Badger-mother and Badger-father await- 
ing them outside their holes. 

" Oh, here you are ! " they cried. 

"Yes; how did you come unto the evening?" 

"Happily!" replied the old ones. "Come in, 
come in ! " So they entered. 

When they had finished eating, the elder bro- 
ther said : " Mother, father, look ye ! Tomorrow 
we must go after our mother to Acoma. Make 
us a luncheon, and we will start early in the morn- 
ing. We are swift runners and shall get there in 
one day ; and the next day we will start back ; 
and the next day, quite early, we will come home 
again with our mother." 

" Very well," replied the Badger-father ; " it is 
well." But the Badger-mother said, " Oh ! my poor 
children, my poor boys ! " 

So, early next morning, the Badger -mother 
rolled up some sweet corn-cakes in a blanket, for 
she did not have to string them now, and together 
the Twain started up the eastern trail. Their 
father, the Sun, thought to help them ; therefore 
he lengthened the day and took two steps only 
at a time, until the two boys had arrived at the 
Springs of the Elks, almost on the borders of the 
Acoma country. Then, with his usual speed jour- 
neyed the Sun-father toward the Land of Night ; 
and the two boys continued until they arrived 
within sight of the town of the Acomas — away out 
there on top of a mountain. Sure enough, there 
was an old hag struggling along under a load of 
wood, and as the two brothers came up to her 



The Maiden and the Sun 461 

they said : " Ha, grandmother, how are you these 
many days ? " 

" Happy," repHed the old woman. 

" Why is it that you, a woman, and an old 
woman, have to carry wood ? " 

" Why, I am the priestess of the dance ! " an- 
swered the old woman. 

" Priestess of the dance ?" 

"Yes." 

" What dance?" 

" Why, there once lived a maiden in the Town 
of the Eagles, and the two Gods of War shot her 
one day from the back of an Eagle who was trying 
to run away with her, and she fell ; and one of my 
young men was the first to grasp her, therefore we 
dance with her bones every night." 

" Well, why do you get this wood ? " they asked. 

" I light the ceremonial chamber with it." 

"What do you do when you get home?" 

" Why, the maidens of my clan come and baptize 
me and feast me ; then when the evening comes I 
go and light a fire with this wood in the chamber 
and wait until the young men gather ; and when 
ever^^thing is ready I go to a niche in the wall and 
get the maiden's bones and distribute them ; and 
when they have finished the dance I tell them to 
stop, and they replace the bones." 

" What do they do then ? " asked the two boys. 

"Why, some of them go home, and some sleep 
right there, and I lie down and sleep there, too." 

" Is that all ?" inquired the two boys. 

"Why, yes, what more should there be?" 



4^2 Zuni Folk Tales 

" Nothing more, except that I think we had bet- 
ter kill you now." Thereupon they struck her to 
the earth and killed her. Then they skinned her 
like a bag, and the elder brother dressed the 
younger in the skin, as the Sun-father had di- 
rected, and he shouldered the bundle of wood. 

" How do I look ?" asked he. 

"Just like her, for all the world ! " responded the 
other. 

" All right," said he ; "wait for me here." 

" Go ahead," said the elder brother, and away 
the younger went. He ran with all his might till 
he came near to the town, and then he began to 
limp along and labor up the pathway just as the 
old woman was wont to do, so that everybody 
thought that he was the old woman, indeed. And 
sure enough it all happened just as the Sun-father 
had said it would. When the dance was over, 
some of the young men went away and others slept 
right there. There were so many of them, though, 
that they almost covered the floor. When they all 
began to snore, the young man arose, threw off his 
disguise, and stepped carefully between the sleep- 
ers till he reached the niche in the wall. Then he 
put his mother's bones, one by one, into his blanket, 
felt all around to see that he left nothing, and 
started for the ladder. He reached it all right and 
took one, two, three steps ; but when his foot 
touched the fourth rung it creaked, and the sleep- 
ing dancers awoke and .started. 

" Somebody is going up the ladder ! " they ex- 
claimed to one another. Then the young man ran 



The Maiden and the Sun 463 

up as fast as ever he could, but alas ! he dropped 
one of his mother's eyes out of the blanket. He 
kept on running until he reached the foot of the 
hill upon which the town stood ; and when he came 
to the spring down on the plains he stopped to 
drink, and lo ! his mother had come to life ! 

'' Ahwa/" uttered the mother, "I 'm tired and 
I don't know what is the matter with my eyes, for 
thincrs don't look straicrht." 

Then the young man looked at his mother. She 
was more beautiful than all the other girls had 
been, but one of her eyes was shrunken in. " Alas ! 
my mother," said he, " I have dropped one of your 
eyes ; but never mind, you can comb your hair 
down over it and no one will ever know the differ- 
ence." 

As soon as they were rested they started again, 
and soon came to where the elder brother stood 
awaiting them. When he looked at his mother, he 
saw that one of her eyes had been left. 

" Did n't I tell you beforehand to be careful?" 
said he. ** Poor mother ; you have lost one of her 
eyes ! 

" Well, it can't be helped ; never mind, she can 
comb her hair down over the eye that is dry and no 
one will ever know the difference." 

" That 's so ; it can't be helped. Now let 's go," 
said the elder brother, and they all started. 

When they arrived at the Waters of the Elks, 
the younger brother said : " Let 's camp here." 

" No, let 's run home," returned the elder brother. 

" No, let 's camp. Our poor mother will get 



464 Zuni Folk Tales 

tired, and, besides, she can see nothing of the 
country we are going through." 

And although the elder brother urged that they 
should go on, the younger insisted that they should 
stay ; therefore they camped. The next day they 
continued their journey until they came near to the 
City of the Heights, not far from their own home ; 
and as they journeyed, the deer, the antelope, the 
elks, and the mountain sheep were everywhere. 

" Just look at that buck ! " exclaimed the younger 
brother, clutching his bow. " Let 's shoot him." 

" No, no ! " said the other ; " Do you not remem- 
ber that our father forbade us ? " So they went 
on until they came to some trees, and as it was noon- 
day they sat down to eat. Now, the fine game 
animals circled all around and even came up near 
enough to smell them, and stood gazing or cropping 
the grass within a few steps of them. 

" Just look at that splendid antelope ! " cried the 
younger brother, and he nocked an arrow quicker 
than thought. 

" No, no, no ! " cried the elder, " you must not 
shoot it." 

" Why not ? Here our poor mother has nothing 
but corn-cakes to eat, with all this meat around us." 
And before his brother could speak another word, 
he drew his arrow to the head, and tsi ! it pierced 
the heart of the great antelope and it fell dead. 

Now, all the great animals round about grew 
angry when they saw this, and tene ! they came 
thundering after the little party. So the two fools, 
forgetting all about their poor mother, jumped up 



The Maiden and the Sun 465 

and ran away as fast as they could and climbed a 
big tree to the very top. When they straddled a 
big branch and looked down, the great deer had 
trampled their poor mother to death. Then they 
gathered around the foot of the tree to batter its 
trunk with their sharp horns, but they could not 
stir it. Presently some big-horn bucks came run- 
ning along. TJile-ee-ta-a-a ! they banged their horns 
against the butt of the tree until it began to split 
and tremble, and presently bang ! went the tree, 
and the boys fell to the ground. Then the moun- 
tain sheep and the great bucks trampled and tore 
and speared them with their sharp horns, and tossed 
them from one to another and lacerated them with 
their hoofs until they were like worn-out clothing — 
all torn to pieces except the head of the elder 
brother which none of them would touch. And 
there the head lay all through the winter ; and the 
next spring there w^as nothing but a skull left of 
the two brothers. 

Now, off in the valley that led to Thunder Moun- 
tain, just where it turns to go south, stood the vil- 
lage of K'yatik'ia, and down in the bottom of the 
valley the great priest-chief of K'yatik'ia had his 
fields of corn and melons and squashes. Summer 
came, and the squashes were all in bloom, w^hen 
the rain poured down all over the country ; and 
thus, little by little, the skull was washed until it 
fell into a stream and went bumping along on the 
waters even till it came to the fields of corn and 
pumpkins and melons in the planting of the priest- 
chief of K'yatik'ia. 
3° 



466 Zuni Folk Tales 

Now, when the pumpkin and squash vines were 
in bloom, the priest-chief's daughter, who was as 
beautiful as you could look upon, went down every 
morning just at daylight to gather squash-flowers 
with which to sweeten the feast bread. The morn- 
ing after the rain had passed over, very early, she 
said to her younger sister : " Stay here and grind 
meal while I run down to the squash patch to pick 
a lot of flowers." So she took her mantle with her 
and started for the fields. She had not been pick- 
ing flowers long when a voice rose from the middle 
of the vines : 

" A-te-ya-ye, 
A-te-ya-ye. 
E-lu-ya." 

Here are more flowers, 
Here are more flowers. 
Beautiful ones. 

" Ah ! " said the girl, " I wonder what that is ! " 
So she put her blanket of flowers down as soon as 
possible and started to hunt. As she approached 
the vine where the skull had been wont to lie, lo ! 
there was a handsome young man ! 

" What are you doing ? " asked the young man. 

" Gathering flowers," said she. 

" If you will promise to take me home with you, 
I will help you," said the young man. 

" Very well," replied the girl. 

"Will you surely do it?" inquired the young 
man. 

" Yes," said she, and lo ! the young man reached 
out his hand and there was a great heap of flowers 



The Maiden and the Sun 467 

already plucked before him ! And while they were 
yet talking, the Sun rose ; and as its first rays 
touched him he began to sink, until there before 
the orirl was nothinor but a hideous old skull. 

" Oh, dear ! " cried she ; " but I promised to take 
it, and I suppose I must." So she took the skull 
up with the tips of her fingers and put it into the 
blanket among the flowers, and started for home. 
Then she entered an inner room of the house, and 
taking the skull carefully out of the blanket, placed 
some cotton in a large new water-jar, and laid the 
skull upon it. Then she covered the jar with a 
flat stone and went to work grinding meal. 

When the Sun was setting:, a voice came from the 
jar. 

" Take me down, quick ! " And the girl took the 
skull down and placed it on the floor, and as it grew 
dark there stood the same handsome young man as 
before, magnificently clothed, with precious stones 
and shells all about him, just as the Sun-father had 
dressed him. And the girl was very happy, and 
told him she would marry him. 

Next morning, just as the Sun rose, the young 
man vanished, and nothing but the old white skull 
lay on the floor. So the girl placed it in the jar 
again, and taking up another water-jar went out to- 
ward the spring. Now, her younger sister went 
into the room and espied the jar. " I wonder what 
sister has covered this jar up so carefully for," said 
she to herself ; and she stepped up to the jar and 
took the lid off. 

''Ati!" cried she. "O dear! O dear!" she 



468 Zuni Folk Tales 

screamed. For when she looked down into the jar 
there was a great rattlesnake coiled up over the 
smooth white skull. 

So she ran and called her father and told him in 
great fright what she had seen. 

"Ah!" said the father, for he was a very wise 
priest-chief, "thou shouldst not meddle with things. 
Thou shouldst keep quiet," said he. He then arose 
and went into the room. Then he approached the 
jar, and, looking down into it, said : " Have mercy 
upon us, my child, my father. Become as thou art. 
Disguise not thyself in hideous forms, but as thou 
hast been, be thou." And the skull rattled against 
the sides of the jar in assent. 

" It is well that thou shouldst marry my daugh- 
ter. And we will close this room that thou shalt 
never come forth " ; and again the skull clattered 
and nodded in glad assent. 

So when the young girl returned, the voice came 
forth from the jar again, and said : " Close all the 
windows and doors, and bring me raw cotton if thy 
father have it, for he has consented that I marry 
you and throw off my disguise." 

Then the girl gladly assented, and ran to get the 
cotton, and brought a great quantity in the room. 
Then when the nigfht came the voice called once 
more : " Take me down ! " The grirl did as she 
was bidden, and the young man again stood before 
her, more handsome than ever. So he married the 
girl and both were very happy. 

And the next mornino- when the Sun rose the 
young man did not again change his form, but re- 



The Maiden and the Sun 409 

mained as he was, and began to spin cotton marvel- 
lously fine and to weave blankets and mantles of the 
most beautiful texture, for in nothing could he fail, 
being a child of the Sun-father and a god himself. 

So the days and weeks passed by, and the Sun- 
father looked down through the windows in sorrow 
and said : " Alas ! my son ; I have delivered thee and 
yet thou comest not to speak with thy father. But 
thou shalt yet come ; yea, verily, thou shalt yet 
come." 

So in time the beautiful daughter of the priest- 
chief gave birth to two boys, like the children of 
the deer. As day succeeded day, they grew larger 
and wiser and their limbs strengthened until they 
could run about, and thus it happened that one day 
in their play they climbed up and played upon the 
house-top and on the ground below. Thus it was 
that the people of K'yatik'ia saw for the first time 
the two little children ; and when they saw them 
they wondered greatly. Of course they wondered 
greatly. Our grandfathers were fools. 

" Who in the world has married the priest-chiefs 
daughter?" everybody asked of one another. No- 
body knew ; so they called a council and made all 
the young men go to it, and they asked each one 
if he had secretly married the priest-chief's daugh- 
ter ; and every one of them said " No," and looked 
at every other one in great wonder. 

"Who in the world can it be? It may be that 
some stranger has come and married her, and it 
may be that he stays there." So the council de- 
cided that it would be well for him and the girl and 



470 Zuni Folk Tales 

their two little ones to die, because they had de- 
ceived their people. Forthwith two war-priests 
mounted the house-tops and commanded the people 
to make haste and to prepare their weapons. 
" Straighten your arrows, strengthen the backs of 
your bows, put new points on your lances, harden 
your shields, and get ready for battle, for in four 
days the daughter and grandchildren of the priest- 
chief and the unknown husband must die ! " 

And when the priest-chief's daughter heard the 
voices of the heralds, she asked her younger sister, 
who had been listening, what they said. And the 
younger sister exclaimed : " Alas ! you must all 
die ! " and then she told her what she had heard. 

Now, the young man called the old priest and 
told him that he knew what would happen, and the 
old priest said : " It is well ; let the will of the gods 
be done. My people know not the way of good 
fortune, but are fools and must have their way." 

Therefore for two days the people labored at 
their weapons, and on the morning of the third 
day they began to prepare for a feast of victory. 
Then said the young man to his wife : " My little 
mother, dearly beloved, on the morrow I must go 
forth to meet my father " ; for he suddenly remem- 
bered that he had neglected his father. 

When the Sun had nearly reached the mid- 
heavens, the young man said to his wife : " Go up 
and open the sky-hole. Farewell ! " said he, and he 
suddenly became a cloud of mist which whirled 
round and round and shot up like a whirlwind in 
the rays of sunlight. 



The Maiden and the Sun 47^ 

When he neared the Sun, the Sun-father said 
nothing, and the young man waited outside in 
shame. Then said the Sun-father in pretended 
anger : " Come hither and sit down. Thou hast 
been a fool. Did I not command thee and thy 
brother ? " And the young man only bent his head 
and said : " It is too true." 

Then the Sun-father smiled gently, and said : 
" Think not, neither be sad, my child. I know 
wherefore thou comest, and I remember how thou 
didst try to prevail upon thy younger brother to 
obey my commandments ; and that it might be well 
I caused thee to forget me, and to come unto the 
past that thou hast come unto. Thou shalt be a 
god, and shalt sit at my left hand. Forever and 
ever shalt thou be a living good unto men, who 
will see thee and worship thee in the evening. And 
through thy will shall rain fall upon their lands. 
True, I had designed, had my children been wiser, 
that thou shouldst remain with them and enrich 
them with thy precious shells and stones, with thy 
great knowledge and good fortune. But those are 
men very unwise and ungrateful, therefore shalt 
thou and thy children, and even thy wife, be won 
from thy earth-life and sit by my left hand. De- 
scend. Make four sacred hoops and entwine them 
with cotton. Make four sacred wands, such as are 
used in the races. Hast thou an unembroidered 
cotton mantle ? " 

" I have," replied the young man. 
" It is well. This evening spread it out and place 
at each of its four corners one of the sacred hoops 



472 Zuni Folk Tales 

and wands. Place all thereon that thou valuest. 
Leave not a precious stone nor yet a shell to serve 
as parentage for others, but place all thereon. The 
people will gather around thy father's house and 
storm it, and then retire and storm it again. Now, 
when the people approach the house, sit ye down, 
one at each of the four corners ; grasp them and lift 
them upward, and gradually ye will be raised. Then 
when the people approach nearer, lift them upward 
once more, and ye will be raised yet farther. And 
when they begin to mount the ladders, lift ye again, 
and yet again, and ye shall come unto my country." 

So the young man descended. No change was 
visible in the old priest-chief's countenance. He 
had caused gay preparations to go forward for the 
festival, for a priest knows that all things are well, 
and he makes no change in his mind or actions. 
And when he asked the young man what the Sun- 
father had said to him, the only reply was : " It shall 
be well. Tomorrow we go to dwell forever at the 
home of the Sun-father." 

Early in the morning the two Priests of War 
mounted to the house-tops and called out : " Hasten, 
hasten ! For the time has come and the people 
must gather, each carrying his weapons, for today 
the children of our priest-chief must die ! " 

So, after the morning meal, all gathered at the 
council chambers of the warriors, and a great com- 
pany they were. The Sun had risen high. Brightly 
painted shields glittered in his light. Long lances 
stood black with paint like the charred trunks of a 
burned forest ; and the people raised their war-clubs 



The Maiden and the Sun 473 

and struck them against one another until the din 
was Hke thunder. 

" Ho-o-o ! " sounded the clash of weapons and the 
war-cries of the people, and in the home of the 
priest-chief they knew they were coming. All night 
long they had been preparing ; the young man had 
placed all their belongings upon the blanket, and 
now one by one they sat down. The wife and the 
husband grasped two corners, the children grasping 
the two others. They lifted them and slowly arose 
toward the ceiling. Once more, as the people came 
nearer, they lifted the corners and neared the sky- 
hole. When again they lifted the corners, they 
passed above the roof, and the people saw their 
shadows cast upon the ground. 

" Quick, quick ! " shouted the young men. " See 
the shadow ; they are escaping ! " 

Already the arrows began to whistle past them, but 
the Sun cast his shield beneath them, and the arrows 
only glanced away or flew past. Once more they 
drew the corners of the mantle upward, and as they 
rose higher and higher, the people, old and young, 
began to quarrel and fell to beating one another, and 
to ficrhtine amonor themselves. The old ones called 
the young ones fools for attempting the life of a god, 
and the young ones in turn called the old ones fools 
for counselling them to attempt the life of a god. 

" Thus shall ye ever be," cried the young man, 
" for ye are fools ! Your father, the Sun, had in- 
tended all things for your good, but ye were fools ; 
therefore with me and mine will pass away your 
peace and your treasures." 



474 Zuni Folk Tales 

My children, at sunset have you not seen the 
little blue twinkling stars that sit at the left hand 
of the Sun as he sinks into night ? Thus did it 
come to pass in the days of the ancients, and thus 
it is that only in the east and the west where the 
Sun rises and sets, even on the borders of the great 
oceans, may we find the jewels whereby we decorate 
our persons. And ever since then, my children, the 
world has been filled with anger, and even brothers 
agree, then disagree, strike one another, and spill 
their own blood in foolish anger. 

Perhaps had men been more grateful and wiser, 
the Sun-father had smiled and dropped everywhere 
the treasures we long for, and not hidden them 
deep in the earth and buried them in the shores of 
the sea. And perhaps, moreover, all men would 
have smiled upon one another and never enlarged 
their voices nor strengthened their arms in anger 
toward one another. 

Thus short is my story ; and may the corn-stalks 
grow as long as my stretches, and may the will of 
the Holder of the Roads of Life shelter me from 
dangers as he sheltered his children in the days of 
the ancients with the shield of his sunlight. 

It is all finished. (Tenk'ia.) 








W107 7 5 













V . 1 






■^o ,0 






v-. 



. , „ _ ^ 



.4 ^. 



V\ 



^ /^^^^. -^^^c^ /,^5>^a;;. ^^^ :^ 



^. 









. . , ^ o 



-^^'".^J^ 






^^-n^. 



■CL -<» 



^^ ... ^-^ ' 






."b 



> 






O * o . o ' 



v-"^ 'MM^: J' -^ 







^°-V 









:# 




o " " ^ <}. 









'o b' 



•^^ 






^-o 



0^ /. 






X* 









. '^^ 



■■•^ . 






.^"^■ 



r.r^ 









^^ ^J^> 



■J V 






o 



>y^'-^^. 



^<;'^' 



:r^ 






.^-- ■^Jc, 






xO-^^ 









*<- ,'X'' 



^. 



O J* 



'^-V^;^ ,^c-^ 









'^^. ,.^ ;; 



^^' .,/-^ 







**b V^' 



